Transformed
by SuperOreoMan
Summary: My version of Burned. After Heath died, Zoey's stuck in the spirit-world with no way to contact anyone; except through dreams. Kalona's the 1 person she can't seem to avoid, & when things go very wrong, can Zoey defeat Kalona? More importantly: WILL she?
1. Each story's begun, with Chapter One!

**So, this fanfic occurs after Tempted, so if you haven't read that, STOP READING RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!**

**!!!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!!!**

**The first thing after my author's note (inbetween those two grey line things) is the last two sentances of Tempted, just so you'll remember.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Zo, babe, this is the Otherworld. It's not me who doesn't belong here—it's you."

Memory crashed over me, drowning me with despair and darkness and reality as my world shattered, and everything went black.

* * *

**Zoey**

Someone was crying, from far away; a man, I think. I could feel a wetness dripping down my body, soaking my clothes and hair. Was I bleeding? Had I died? I couldn't remember. All I had been thinking about when I ran towards Kalona, spirit in my hand, was Heath, and the danger he was in.

A wave of mental agony washed over me as I thought about Heath, my loving Heath, whom I would never see again. Unless, of course, I had died. I suddenly wished that I had, so I could be with him. He reminded me so much of my former life, my childhood, and more. But then I wouldn't be able to see Grandma Redbird. If I died, it would break her heart. Just that thought alone strengthened me.

The blackness that had taken me so easily before was fading, and I opened my eyes weakly. I squeezed them shut again as the bright sunlight almost blinded me. I was too weak to lift my arm to shade my eyes, so instead I opened them slightly, and realized that it was in fact, cloudy, and the liquid dripping down me was rain. As I gazed at the sky and gained more of my consciousness, the crying grew louder, and it seemed like the sky was crying.

"Don't cry, sky, it's okay, I'll be with him someday," I muttered feebly to the sky, who obviously was _not _crying, but I was out of it, so it looked like it was. I closed my tired eyes again, and shivered in the cold rain. It felt like I was lying on stone, which drained the warmth from me, making me much colder.

I tried to crumple into a ball, to keep me warmer, but all I could manage was to roll kind of onto my side and bend my knees. I shivered again, and as I did the crying stopped. Who was crying? I pondered this, but could come to no conclusion.

Suddenly, hot arms wrapped around me, enveloping me in a warm embrace. I hadn't realized how cold I really was until coming into contact with somebody else. If they felt hot, I must have been freezing. I curled closer to them, soaking in the warmth.

"Zoey," the one holding me whispered in my ear, and draped what must have been a blanket over me. It was already warm. I sighed in content, but briefly wondered why they weren't taking me inside.

It was probably Stark, since Heath was—

A small sob shook my body and I began to cry. Heath, he was dead, and Kalona had killed him! He'd told me he would become good, but then he'd killed Heath.

"Shh, don't cry," Stark crooned as he took my cold, shaking hands in his hot grasp. I opened my eyes again, but the blanket got in the way. I reached out slowly to move it aside so I could see where we were. I touched the warm blanket to move it, only to pause for a moment at it's odd texture. I couldn't quite place it, but whatever it was, it was certainly very comfortable and warm.

I pushed the blanket aside a bit, and saw that we were on the roof of the castle that Neferet and Kalona had bought off the old human guy. The roof of my dreams. I wondered how we'd gotten there so fast, and hoped that Darius, the twins, Damien, and Aphrodite were kicking Kalona's butt for what he'd done to—

_No, don't think about it,_ I urged myself as I felt a twinge of sadness make me sob harder. Oh yeah, I'd forgotten that I was crying.

I wanted to get up, wanted to stop acting like a baby, just laying there sobbing, so I called spirit to me. It filled me and gave me enough strength to be able to stand and walk, but not much more. So I tiredly poked my face out of the gap I'd made in the blanket. It brushed my face, the texture again feeling familiar, but strange.

Rain immediately hit my face, and I almost pulled my head back into the warmth like a sissy, but instead sat there and just examined my surroundings. I didn't see anybody else. Maybe they'd all gone inside like sane people. I shivered _again_ in the cold rain, and this time I did pull back into the blanket, and Stark's warm embrace.

Stark stood up, and, as if reading my mind—which made sense with the whole warrior-priestess link think—headed towards the doors of the Castle. We went inside, warmth flooding over my still cold body. I was feeling much better now—still weak, but better.

"Put me down, I can walk," I said in a pathetic-sounding voice.

"No, you need to get your strength back," Stark whispered back, his voice dripping with concern. How cute.

"Please, Stark, I can walk, or at least sit in a really comfortable chair." When I said his name, his grip on me tightened. It kinda hurt, and made it relatively hard to breathe in.

"Th-that hurts," I gasped. His grip lessened, and I heard him mutter an apology. It didn't sound very sincere. I felt him take a seat, and by the way he dipped down afterwards, it seemed like a very cushy, comfortable chair. Or couch. Or whatever it was he was sitting on. I peeked out of the blanket again and still didn't see anyone else. Huh.

"Where is everyone?" I asked in confusion, still not understanding where they could be.

"They can't come here," Stark answered emotionlessly, and I could just picture the guarded look on his face. What was that supposed to mean?

I wrapped my arms around his warm waist comfortingly, and in doing so, I realized that he wasn't wearing a shirt. How odd. Then a thought struck me; maybe that was the 'blanket' around me. That would make sense as to why it was warm and familiar feeling; warm from his body heat, and familiar because, well, it was a _shirt, _and I would have felt it on him earlier.

He relaxed at my embrace and squeezed me gently. We sighed in content as one, and my breath shuddered, reminding me that I'd stopped crying. By now I was completely warm, hot even, and ready to come out of the blanket.

I stirred, and reached out to pull the blanket off of me, when Stark's large had grabbed mine.

"What are you doing?" His voice feinted calmness, but was laced underneath with alarm.

"I'm getting up, it's hot in here," I pouted as I tried to wrestle out of his grasp.

"You need to rest."

"I'm _fine,_ just let me up."

"I...are you sure you're alright?" His voice was hesitant, and there was something different about it… Maybe it was more gruff, or something, but it definitely sounded more manly. Wow. I guess me almost dying really took a toll on him.

"Yeah, I'm sure." I rolled my eyes at his overly-protectiveness.

He slowly let go of me and I immediately shoved the blanket aside in case he changed his mind. It's familiar quality again distracted me, and something inside me told me it was not a shirt.

I weakly rose to my feet, and he grabbed my arm from behind me so I wouldn't topple over. I noticed that he'd also used the blanket to keep me from falling, which made me laugh faintly. It was wrapped around my middle and part of my legs, and as I looked down at it, the laughter died in my throat. I stared until I thought my eyes would pop out of my head.

Now I realized why the 'blanket' had had such a familiar texture. It was most definitely _not _a shirt. I ran my fingers along it, making sure I wasn't hallucinating in my weak state. I could easily feel the structure of each and every deep, black feather that I touched. I swallowed, knowing whose gaze I would meet when I turned around. I did so, and his wings brushed my arms lightly as he brought them closer to his body.

I stood in the middle of a room I'd never been in, or seen before, and watched as my greatest enemy knelt on the floor in front of me. My eyes narrowed in rage.

"Please, Zoey," he begged, "Forgive me! I did not know how much the boy meant to you, but he had found out too much!"

"And that's your excuse for killing him?" I countered, my voice dangerously low.

"I—no. I have no excuse."

"You said you used to be good. You _lied _to me. I saw what Heath saw; he sent it to me. We were imprinted."

Kalona's eyes widened. He suddenly stood and took a step towards me. I backed up, my hatred and sadness overcoming A-ya's love for Kalona. I could see the hurt in his eyes at my words, and the A-ya part of my mind wanted me to apologize, forgive him, and run into his arms. But the Zoey in me, who I really, truly was, could not. I turned from him and marched outside into the cold, wet air.

The rain had almost stopped. I stood there like an idiot, not knowing how to leave. This _had_ to be a dream. I knew it was. So I closed my eyes and wished myself away, wondering why I hadn't already been whisked away from here and woken up. At this point in a dream I usually was.

I started to glow with a golden light, and I could feel my will disintegrating me. I turned to see Kalona running towards me, the fear evident in his eyes.

_That _would_ be scary, _I concluded, _To see someone fall apart in front of you._ I knew I should have been totally freaked out at the fact that I was disintegrating, but, instead, my mind was very serene.

Kalona reached out for me, trying to save me, but the moment his hand came into contact with what was left of me, I exploded into a billion shining pieces that the wind carried away.

And suddenly, I was back, and whole, with Heath in 'The Otherworld'. I was very confused now. I looked at him, he looked at me, and we both spoke at the same time.

"What the Heck?"

* * *

**Soooo... What'd ya think? **

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**Your Pal,**

**ll SuperOreoMan ll**

**!!!END OF SPOILER ALERT!!!**


	2. Woohoo, Chapter Two!

**Yay for chapter two!  
Review, Review, Review!  
Hee Hee.**

**Thanks two people who reviewed! Why can't everyone have your enthusiasm?**

_avatoph3: I came up with the term 'spirit-world' because it just seemed like a spirit-world to me. Everything's all crazy, and she's there in dream, not in reality._

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_And suddenly, I was back, and whole, with Heath in 'The Otherworld'. I was very confused now. I looked at him, he looked at me, and we both spoke at the same time._

_"What the Heck?"_

* * *

Heath shoved the end of his fishing pole into a pipe sticking out of the dock he was on and ran to me.

"I didn't mean for you to pass out, Zo," he whispered into my ear between kisses, his words becoming a metallic green essence that enveloped us both. I heard the distant _zip! _of Heath's fishing line, but Heath's presence distracted me.

"Heath, I-I'm so sorry I couldn't save you!" I said softly, because it was hard to be anything but happy when sparkly, purple words were surrounding and tickling you.

"Hey, it's not your fault. I shouldn't have been snooping around." Heath however, seemed to have no problem being something other than happy, and his sadness made his metallic green words become chilly and blurry. We broke apart, his chilled words parting us. I glared at him.

"You are _not _going to blame this on yourself!" I snapped, my sudden anger giving the sparkles in my words a red tinge. He glanced at them, and twirled his finger around in them distractedly, causing them to disperse into a sparkly purpley-red mist.

"Let's just forget everything, okay? Who knows when you'll be gone again, and I won't see you." His green words made me remember how I had just appeared here, and this time didn't feel fatigued at all.

"'Kay," I agreed solemnly. He took my hand and we walked back onto the dock. The line on his fishing pole was as drawn out as it could be now, and the rod was bent. We sat down and he took it from it's perch. He started reeling in, and he looked really excited. Heath noticed my confused look, and just said, "You just wait," in a devious way.

He'd reeled it in almost all the way, and I saw a flicker of something jump out of the water, and slide back in without splash nor sound. This, of course, drew my attention.

The bobber slipped out of the water in front of the dock, and I could see _something_ underneath us. Heath tugged on the line and I almost jumped up in surprise at what was on the end.

It was a fish, but that's not what surprised me. It looked like it was made out of water, but somehow stayed in the shape of a fish. It was all the colors of the rainbow, the different colors just drifting around, but not mixing. The edges of it's scales and fins had traces of silver; just enough to define each one. But strangest of all was it's eyes. They were gold, and they glimmered with intellegence. Those eyes seemed to be smiling as if the fish was happy to have brought _me _happiness.

"It's…it's—" I stammered not knowing what to say. Heath took it off the line, I noticed he wasn't using a hook, and held it in his hand. He threw it into the air, where it transformed into a bird and flew around us. It was still rainbow, and each feather, talon and it's beak was now edged and distinguished with silver. I stared in wonder. "Beautiful," I continued.

Heath put his arm around my shoulder and looked into my eyes.

"Just like my Zo."

I blushed, and leaned into him, just watching the strange fish—no, bird—fly around in his metallic words. We sat there, enjoying each other's company. We just sat there and talked, remembering old times for who knows how long. And then it was time to go.

"Heath…" I trailed off as I began to glow and break down, but still hold my shape.

"Yeah," he sounded disappointed, but not scared. "You did that after you passed out. When I tried to touch you, you kinda blew up."

I giggled like a schoolgirl at his straightforwardness.

"Love ya, Heath."

"You too, Zoey."

I leaned over to kiss him one last time, and when our lips met I disintegrated into shiny pieces, _again,—_now how many people can say that?—and blew…somewhere.

* * *

This time I was conscious while floating around. My mind was weak in this strange state I was in, but I could still think. I wondered for the first time what was happening to me. I hadn't given it much thought before, but I wanted to know why I hadn't woken up yet. Was I on my way out of this…dream?

I opened my eyes. It was weird how I was just suddenly was somewhere else, and back in my body. At first I thought I had woken up, but was soon proved wrong. I didn't know _where_ I was, but all I could see was me running towards Heath and Kalona, spirit in my hands. I watched myself stumble as Kalona snapped Heath's neck, and I hurled spirit at him. I saw myself fall to the ground, and Stark was suddenly at my side.

It was a strange experience. Here I was, watching my last waking moments as if they were a movie. I slowly walked closer to myself—no, my body; I could tell that I was no longer there—and saw my friends running toward Stark, who was now clutching my body. As I grew near enough to see my body clearly, I froze. Fear and shock overcame me as I realized why my body didn't look quite right; the Nyx-given designs that should have bordered my face and covered my shoulders were gone!

I immediately looked at my shoulder—the real me—and gasped when I saw the sad, empty space where my beautiful tattoos should have been. Tears stung my eyes and I wrenched my gaze away. Had Nyx disowned me? Was she angry that I had fallen for Kalona's trickery?

I heard Stark speaking beside me, and realized that everything and everyone else had disappeared, and it was just Stark holding my body, and me, whom he didn't seem to see. I listened to what he was saying. Did he know what had happened to me?

"When she threw spirit at Kalona, Zoey knew she was too late, and her soul shattered. I know because I'm bound to her soul and I felt it shatter. Zoey's not here anymore. This is just her empty shell."

And then he started to cry, his heavy tears coming down to drip on my body's face. My body, which I now saw was totally vacant, dissolved form his arms and Stark cried harder and sank to the ground in despair.

His words startled me. My soul had shattered? What did _that _mean? I supposed that that was why I wasn't waking up, but wouldn't that mean I was dead?

"Am I _dead?_"

Stark's head snapped up when I spoke, and he stared at me, just standing there in front of him wondering if I was indeed alive or not. He slowly rose to his feet, and took a few hesitant steps toward me.

"I'm so sorry, Zoey," he whispered so quietly that I almost didn't hear him.

"It's not your fault," I answered him truthfully, "It's not."

He looked surprised that I replied. He swallowed, blinked the stream of tears out of his eyes, and looked closer at me.

"You—you've never responded to me before."

"Huh?"

"Every time I go to sleep, it's always this same dream—nightmare, and usually you walk away after I apologize, and I run after you, but no matter fast I go I can never keep up."

I stepped closer to him, feeling terrible that I was the cause of so much of his pain. I gently took his hand and drew him closer to me. I gave him a hug. It felt really good.

"I don't think this is a dream. Maybe it started out as one, but I think now it's more," I spoke softly into his ear, and to my surprise, his body shook with a sad laugh.

"Well, of course _you'd _say that, you _are _my dream."

"No," I replied, "I mean it. I've been wandering the Otherworld, or at least, that's what everyone keeps calling it, and I've been with…two others, so if this is anyone's dream, it's mine." I didn't mention that those two others were Heath and Kalona. Talk about awkward.

He dropped his arms from our embrace, but held onto my hand tightly; as if afraid I would disappear at any time.

"So…I saw what you were dreaming about before. W-what's happened since then?" I asked, nervous to find out the answer. I was afraid Nyx had cast me out. After all, she hadn't been in any of my visions, or whatever you want to call them, and all my tattoos were gone.

_But you still have your affinities, so Nyx couldn't have turned her back on you, _a voice in my head stubbornly pointed out.

_Yeah, well, maybe I was born with them or something. If Nyx hadn't abandoned me, why else would my marks be gone and why hasn't she shown up yet? _I argued, afterwards feeling silly for arguing with my mind.

"Well," Stark broke in through my mind chatter, "You're body is still alive, but _you_—your soul, spirit, whatever you wanna call it— aren't in it. You're breathing on your own, but we have to feed you through an IV, and you have a catheter." Stark blushed a little at this, bringing a pale pink color to his almost paper-white face. "Right now, you're in the infirmary laying on a hospital bed. I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on you in case anything changes, but Darius said he'd take over for me. I hadn't realized I had gone four days without sleep until he mentioned it."

"_Four days?_" I demanded, angry at him and myself at the same time.

"Hey, you asked."

I grumbled a little at his remark, but just crossed my arms and waited for him to continue.

"After your soul first shattered," he glanced at me cautiously as if wondering how I'd react to this information. When I did nothing, he went on. "And you threw spirit at Kalona, he totally flipped out and came diving for you. The fear on his face looked _almost _genuine." Stark scowled, and I was startled.

"Kalona came after me?"

Stark scoffed at this.

"He was just playing his mind games. He almost took you away, but I caught up with him and wounded him." He looked really proud of himself. My inner A-ya wanted me to go apologize to Kalona more than ever, but I pushed her thoughts aside. Starks face grew inquisitive, and he continued. "His blood smelled like the most delicious thing you could imagine—even Darius had trouble resisting it. Some other vamps came outside looking for it, it smelled _that_ was really weird…"

"That's...worrisome," I stated, pleading to the dear Goddess, Mary, and anyone else worth praying to that Kalona would never use this against me. Because of the A-ya in me, I was almost positive I would not be able to resist it. Just the thought gave me chills.

Just then, I noticed myself beginning to shine, and I began to feel lightheaded.

_Hmm, that's new, _I thought dreamily, refering to the wooziness, as I began the cycle of dissolving.

"Zoey? _Zoey!_" Starks voice was growing faint as I fragmented.

"I'll come back…promise…" Part of me knew there was no way to tell if I would—or could—keep this promise, but the other part of me knew it was what Stark need to hear. I squeezed the hand that was in mine before I had strted to glow, and Stark squeezed back, sending pieces of me into every direction.

* * *

I could, once again, sense things during this journey. I had no idea where I was headed, but I could only hope it was somewhere that would give me the answers I so dearly needed.

I looked up to see a beautiful sunset on the water, with distant rain clouds heading away. The tendrils of red, orange, and purple light generated from the setting sun danced on the waves caused by the wonderful-feeling sea breeze.

_Dang! _I thought as I realized that I was suddenly back in my form. This was seriously freaky! One minute I was in… wherever, and the next I was…wherever, back in my body!

I looked around to find out where I was, and, to my dismay, found myself to be back on the tower of my dreams.

Correction; Nightmares.

As if the word 'Nightmares' had summoned him, Kalona was suddenly beside me.

* * *

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	3. OMG, it's Chapter Three!

**This chapter was weird to write, but I couldn't find a way to write it better, so sorry it's not so good. Hopefully the next chapter will be better!**

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* * *

I looked around to find out where I was, and, to my dismay, found myself to be back on the tower of my dreams.

_Correction; Nightmares._

_As if the word 'Nightmares' had summoned him, Kalona was suddenly beside me. _

* * *

I immediately tensed up, not knowing what to expect.

He didn't look at me, but instead stared at the wonderful sunset, his expression unreadable. I just stood there, wanting to leave, but not knowing how to. After countless minutes, he finally spoke in a very calm voice.

"I can save you, Zoey. I can bring you back to your body."

For a moment I didn't know how to respond to the powerful emotion he spoke with. He seemed sincere, but with him you could never tell. I gathered myself and looked at him from the corner of my eye.

"How could you possibly save me, if I can't even save myself?"

His eyes finally met mine, and I could see strong emotions seething in the amber depths. I couldn't quite place them, though.

"I am a being that walks the Otherworld as well as the real world. I could save you."

"Why would you even bother? Now that _I'm_ out of the way, you can carry on with your, your _fantastic_ plan to take over the world!" The venom in my words surprised even me, and I looked at my bare feet when his eyes flooded with pain.

"Because it's the most I could to do make up for how much I've hurt you," he muttered after a few moments.

These words filled me with a sudden fury. Hurt me? _Hurt me? _Oh, he'd done much more than 'hurt me'. He'd almost killed my grandma, actually killed Heath, destroyed my life, and haunted my dreams. I ground my teeth and clenched my fists, and also closed my eyes in an attempt to control my rage.

When I opened them again, Kalona had moved and was standing uncomfortably close to me, but he kept his hands to himself. For now.

"Zoey…" The use of my real name extinguished the rage and stirred an immense emotion in me. "I just want you to be with me."

He suddenly took my hand, which I tried—albeit unsuccessfully—to wrench from his firm grip, and held my gaze. My eyes narrowed, and I tried again to pull my hand from his. Dang, he was strong!

I finally sighed impatiently, and called fire to me. As my hand grew white hot, but I could feel only the gentle warmth of the sun on my skin, Kalona's eyes grew wide; first in surprise, then in frustration. He let go, and shook his hand as if it had actually been burned.

"A-ya, you make this very…difficult," he growled, this time using the name of the earthen maiden that was made to trap him in the earth, and that I just happened to be a reincarnation of. Lucky me.

"Yeah, and it's just gonna get _more _difficult if you don't leave me the heck alone!" I growled back, before stomping away and wishing with all of my brain power that I could get away from here. I heard quick footsteps behind me, and Kalona kept talking to me, even though I was walking away.

"You don't understand, Zoey," he said sharply. "I am bound to Neferet. Since it was she that saved me from my prison, I am connected to her in a way unimaginable, and unbreakable, unless one of us was to die. And, seeing as she is evil, I am evil too. Just as you know you love me, I know I should be good. But just as you willingly ignore your love for me because you believe you should, I cannot ignore that I know I should be good, but I am forced to, through our bond. I am compelled to be…bad, because of her wickedness. Do you understand? But I could change for you."

I rolled my eyes at him, though he couldn't see, because I was walking away from him.

"Yeah, right, and you also said that right before you killed Heath. Who are you going to kill next?" My eyes stung when I remembered Heath, but I held my head high anyways. I didn't know where I was heading, but I didn't feel like dealing with Kalona right now. A warm hand laid itself on my shoulder. I halted and looked at it blankly, and one traitor tear welled out of my eye as I saw the blank skin on my shoulder.

I shrugged out from under his hand, and he said my name in a mix of anger and frustration. I looked at my shoulder again, and I saw what looked like the faint outline of his fingers still on my skin. Except it was darker and bluer…

My heart leapt in joy as I realized what it was. Right where his hand had lain, the gentle curvature of my expanded mark was just visible. It was extremely faded, and almost impossible to see unless looked at closely, but it was there. And not just where Kalona's hand had been, but it appeared as if all my marks were coming back! I almost wept in happiness, but he was right there, so instead I started walking faster, wishing myself away with a new fervor.

He caught up with me, and grabbed my hand to stop me. He was doing a lot of that lately.

"Let go!" I fumed after a few unsuccessful shakes. "Just leave me alone! There's no way you could ever change, no matter what you say. And blaming it on Neferet— that's low, even for you."

Even as I spoke, the hand that clutched my own grew colder, and colder, until it burned with a familiar desire. I used fire again to make him let go, and immediately took off.

"A-ya! You_ will_ be mine!"

His footsteps could be heard behind me as I ran. I didn't really know where I was going, but then I saw the door to the inside of the castle that Kalona had carried me through before I had known who he was. I darted inside and ran towards the door I found inside on the right wall. I slammed into it and tried to tug it open, before realizing it was locked. I sighed in exasperation and looked for another way out just as Kalona entered the room, looking incredibly vexed. He headed in my direction, and I went in the opposite, having seen a second door in a corner of the room hidden by a jutting-out wall. Luckily this one was unlocked.

I dashed outside into a strangely wide hallway before slamming the door shut, and using fire for the third time that…uh, dream, to melt the doorknob and hinges together as I ran. I heard him slam into the door, and I reached an intersection of hallways. A loud, threatening _crunch _came from the door Kalona was trying to open, and I followed my intuition and went left. It led me down a wide, long, dark corridor, and I was quickly met with another intersection, except at the end of each of these short but spacious hallways, stood a door. I trusted my gut again, and went straight. And…the door was locked. I heard a loud, shattering _crack _echoing down the corridor, and then a bizarre fluttering noise.

I pursued my intuition and used fire to burn the door. As the ash crumbled in front of me, I looked behind me just in time to see Kalona flying gracefully with his large, beautiful, black wings. He came to a halt and landed elegantly on his feet. This was when I booked it through the doorway to get a head start.

It turned out to lead to what looked like a large, open ballroom, with one large, attractively carved throne and seven less ornately carved thrones on either side of it at the head of the room. I paused for what I imagined was only a few seconds, but it was a few seconds too long. A few rustling noises behind me was all the warning I had before being swept up in a pair of muscular arms.

"A-ya, I told you that you would be mine," Kalona whispered in my ear after he'd perched upon a huge chandelier that felt like it was fifty feet above the hard, stone floor. I reflexively held onto him with all my might as the fragile structure swayed from it's sudden disturbance. Kalona seemed to find this funny, and chuckled a little. This, of course, made me want to let go. And I stupidly and stubbornly did so. And then I began to slip from his seemingly iron embrace, and towards the impending doom of the floor. I grabbed onto the thin metal frame of the chandelier to keep from splatting on the ground.

Kalona jerked forward, and this sudden movement caused me to lose my grip and slip a little, and also caused some of the glass pieces of it to fall to the hard floor and shatter. I shrieked, and he reached down for me, but just missed me. My hands were becoming sweaty fast, and suddenly I was falling, for what felt like forever, but must have been only a few seconds. The floor was only a few yards beneath me when Kalona flew out beneath me, caught me and we both crashed to the floor in a heap, Kalona' body breaking my fall. I noticed distractedly that he was warm to the touch again.

My body hurt, but I scrambled to get off him. He sat up slowly, and I noticed with revulsion that the whole arm that he'd—well, _we'd—_ landed on looked like a collage of shattered glass pieces. He rolled his shoulder and most of the pieces fell away without even a mark, because they hadn't penetrated the skin, only stuck to it. But there was one large piece that had punctured his skin, and it looked like it was stuck about half an inch deep. With one swift movement, Kalona yanked the large shard out of his bicep. He made no other sound than a sharp intake of breath as the small bead of blood around the wound grew into a fat drop and began falling down his arm.

He glanced at his wings, I assumed to make sure they weren't damaged, and tested them out. He flapped them gently a few times, and the sudden breeze wafted it towards me. An astonishing smell, the most overpowering, enticing, tempting aroma you could imagine; and better. I wanted it more than anything in the world, but I had to force my thoughts elsewhere as they zeroed in on that single abrasion, where a well of blood had begun. My mouth watered as I intently watched the viscous liquid run down his arm. Kalona, not noticing where my attention was, brusquely wiped away the red stream with his hand. He started talking to me, but I couldn't hear what he said. I was concentrating too hard on not jumping towards him and drinking his inviting, enchanting blood. I watched his wound and grew dizzy with the effort of keeping away. I wanted it _so _badly.

I hadn't realized I had fallen to my knees until Kalona glanced at me worriedly, and started to rise to his feet. He offered me his hand to help me up, him not realizing that it was the bloody hand. I took it shakily, and stared at our joined hands. Kalona spoke again, but again I couldn't hear him due to my extreme concentration. He let go of my hand after I was standing, and I just stood there, staring at it, covered in his blood. I wanted more than anything to lick the delicious substance from it, but I refrained from doing so. I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe, all I could do was stand there and stare at his blood.

My head was unexpectedly jerked upwards by a hand pulling my chin up. It was, luckily, not bloody. Kalona's worried amber eyes met my own bewildered ones, and he looked at me staring as if in a trance at my bloody hand, and promptly wiped the red liquid away. He spoke again, but this time I faintly heard.

"Zoey? What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

_He's so bipolar…_ I thought absentmindedly as I began to recover from the shock of his blood's strength. I glanced at his arm, and my gaze was frozen once again by the still flowing blood. Kalona looked where I was looking, and it seemed to register all at once as to why and where my gaze was caught. He looked at me, slowly placed one finger over his wound, and pulled it away again to reveal a drop of blood clinging to it. I had to stop myself from licking my lips in longing.

_Oh, Goddess, please help me! _I silently begged as Kalona moved the finger towards me. I subconsciously noted that I seemed to be glowing again as the finger drew nearer, the alluring drop of blood dangling from the end. My eyes widened, and I just couldn't help myself; I licked it.

My mouth exploded with flavor as my body exploded into pieces again, and I couldn't tell which caused me to go temporarily blind with an overwhelming and unidentified sensation. I floated along, not knowing where I was going, but knowing I never wanted to return to where I had come.

* * *

**Hey guys, trivia question!**

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	4. Ooh, there's more, here's Chapter Four!

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**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Stevie Rae**

Stevie Rae had known something was wrong, even before she got the phone call. She was just as sure that somethin' had gone wrong in Greece as she was sure the sun would fry her faster than a cook at McDonalds could fry burgers. She just_ knew_, because of two reasons: 1) Rephaim was actin' funny, and through their imprint Stevie Rae could kinda tell it was somethin' to do with his daddy, but not exactly what, and 2) Since becoming a full red vamp, Stevie Rae could sense things that were kinda hard to explain. And plus, Nyx had come to her in a dream and told her to go to Greece ASAP.

And that was why Stevie Rae was sitting on a plane, on her way to Greece. A jet to be exact; the House of Night's _private_ jet. And since, unlike most imprints, it was uncomfortable for her to be away from Rephaim and vice versa, she had had to sneak him onto the plane, too. It had been hard, but Stevie had done it, and Rephaim was now sitting beside her, looking very alert.

"It's alright," she murmured soothingly for the umpteenth time. "Nobody's in the cabin 'cept you and me. Everybody else is in the…well, wherever it is the workin' folks go. An' besides, we'd be able to hear 'em comin', and the seat in front of you is too tall for them to see you anyway."

Rephaim relaxed a little at her words, but still looked freaked out in that calm way he always seemed to have, even when he was in pain. His wounds were definitely healing well, but Stevie Rae knew that they were still hurtin' a lot,—mostly because she felt anything and everything he did—and she seemed to know, deep inside of her, that he would never fly again. That made her sad, 'cause she could feel how much it made him sad.

Stevie Rae's skin was almost completely healed, thanks to Rephaim's blood and her super-quick healin' abilities, but every now and then a spot would get rubbed or bumbed and get sore. She knew that Rephaim could feel her pain just as she felt his, and this made her feel tremendously guilty. And all that speedy healing made her feel super-duper tired. The tiny shred of sunlight peeking out from beneath the closed window made her feel even more tired, because it reminded her that it was still daytime. So she lay back her head, closed her eyes, got comfy, and muttered for Rephaim to wake her when they arrived.

* * *

**Zoey**

I was floating along in nothingness, and then I was in the tunnels where the red fledglings lived, and where the evil ones still do. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, and when they did I saw that I was in the tunnel that leads to the kitchen. A movement caught my eye, and I looked over in the direction it was coming from, only to see Stevie Rae heading into the kitchen. I followed her, wanting to see how she was doing. As I approached the doorway, I could hear her talking to somebody in her cute Okie twang, but that person's response was too quiet for me to hear by voice recognition.

I stepped in the room just to be blinded by the bright fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling. My hands flew to my face to protect my sensitive eyes, but not before I saw two silhouettes against the tunnel walls. I heard Stevie Rae gasp, "Zoey!", and there was some rustling around as well as a grunt of pain as my eyes slowly adjusted. I still had the silhouettes imprinted on my vision as I lowered my hands and could, thankfully, see. I squinted my eyes to get a good look at the second person, but they were no longer there. I looked back at Stevie Rae, who was standing there almost _too_ innocently, and narrowed my eyes.

"Who was that?" I demanded, bypassing the pleasantries.

"Who was who?" Stevie Rea asked with fake puzzlement on her face.

"Who was just standing with you?"

"Nobody's standing with me Zoey," She said with a small, nervous giggle as she looked around herself pointedly, to prove that nobody was near her.

"I just saw and heard somebody, and can still see them—right there," I concluded as I pointed next to her, referring to the silhouette still tingeing my vision.

Her eyes widened, and her eyes flicked nervously toward a mound of pillows and blankets lying in the corner.

"W-Whadaya mean?" She stammered fearfully.

"I was talking about the second figure I saw standing beside you before I was blinded by the light, and I can still see imprinted into my vision," I explained grumpily as I rubbed my eyes. "Now, who was it?"

A couple moments went by, and we just stared at each other; Stevie Rae twiddling her thumbs anxiously and me standing with my arms crossed, waiting for her to answer.

"I-it's really good to see ya, Z," Stevie Rae finally said quietly. My stature softened, and I sighed. I could only hope that she'd tell me later, when she was ready.

"Yeah, you too."

"They told me what happened."

"Yeah."

"So what are you gonna do?"

"I don't know," I answered truthfully, "I don't even know what's going to happen to me, really. I'm just kinda stuck…in limbo," I added with a smile.

She answered with a tentative smile of her own, and I couldn't help but wonder what she was hiding this time.

"Ya know, Z, maybe you could use wind or spirit or somethin' to zoom ya right back into your body," she suggested after a few moments. Then her eyes screwed up in worry. "Can ya even use your gifts anymore? I mean, your tattoos are gone, so do you still have your affinities?"

"Yeah, I've used them before," I replied, suddenly cheerful, "And my marks are coming back too, see?" I pulled back my hair and tank top's strap so she could see the faint blue designs. Huh. I'd forgotten I was wearing a tank top. It was purple. Just FYI.

"That's great, Zoey!" Stevie Rae exclaimed, genuinely happy for me. Then her eyes shifted to the pile of bedding in the corner, and I noticed the distinct shape of an arm underneath a blue sheet. What—no, _who_—was it that she was so afraid to tell me about?

"You can trust me, Stevie Rae, you can tell me _anything,_" I urged gently. She met my eyes, and a few moments later nodded firmly, as if convincing herself that this was true.

"I didn't exactly tell you the truth the other day," she admitted after taking a deep breath. "When the sun was burnin' me up, there was somebody with me, and he saved my life, Zoey, and more than once." The bundle of blankets, pillows and sheets in the corner moved a bit, and Stevie Rae started walking slowly towards it, talking as she moved. "Ya see, the red fledglings, the bad ones, really hate my guts. They tried to kill me by trappin' me on the roof in an attempt to save someone I'd saved once before. But that someone returned the favor and saved my life that day. He shaded me from the sun, so I didn't burn completely away. Then he helped me break the bars that the red fledglings had put over the roof to keep me in. Then he carried me down under ground, so's I could be in my element, even though he don't like it underground."

I was furious that the bad red fledglings had tried to kill her, but I tried to keep my cool. Stevie Rae was now standing next to the heap of bedding, but made no move to reveal who was under it. She swallowed and continued.

"And, the reason mine and Aphrodite's imprint broke, was…was 'cause I formed another one with someone else. I was hurt, and needed blood, and he let me drink his 'cause he said he owed me, for savin' his life before. And, well, we imprinted." She concluded with an anxious shrug.

"I see." I wasn't happy that she'd lied, and I wondered why she had, so I pressed for an answer. "But, who was it? Who did you imprint on?" I tilted my head deliberately at the mound of blankets and pillows.

"I-I didn't even know it could happen," she was suddenly _really _nervous as she grasped the bedding, "And, Z, please, just…hear me out."

I wondered what she was talking about when she suddenly lifted the blanket away with a flourish that made me dizzy, and seemed to make the edge of my vision shimmer. And underneath that blanket sat a Raven Mocker, his big, red eyes staring at me in what looked like defiance, but on that unhuman face, one couldn't really tell. I looked at Stevie Rae, who looked completely at ease with the monster, then at the creature itself.

"This, is who I imprinted on," Stevie Rae confirmed what I'd already guessed, and she seemed to feel better now that she'd gotten it off her chest.

I pointed with one shiny finger, straight at the Raven Mocker. She nodded, and I took a step backwards from the abrupt lightheadedness that overcame me.

And then my world exploded.

* * *

**Stevie Rae**

Stevie Rae woke with a start, jerkin' up faster than a jackrabbit at the sound of someone talking to her.

"Priestess? We'll be landing in about ten minutes," said the super-nice flight attendant lady. Stevie Rae looked around wildly for Rephaim, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Have you lost something?" inquired the flight attendant politely.

"No, just thought I dropped my…uh, pillow," Stevie Rae replied, instantly grabbing the pillow at her feet. She smiled real big until the lady turned away, then she stood up quickly and started calling out for Rephaim.

"Rephaim? Rephaim? Where are you?" She whispered only loud enough for him to hear if he was near.

"Here," came a muffled voice from underneath the seat in front of her, and a hand popped out a moment later. As Stevie Rae helped him out, she could feel the plane in it's descent. She could also feel the pain he felt as he dragged his hurt wing out, and winced along with him.

"I gotta tell ya somethin'," Stevie Rae told him after he was standing beside her. "I had a dream 'bout Zoey last night, an'—"

"Yes, I know. I was there with you. And I don't think it was necessarily a dream," Rephaim interrupted calmly. But then again, he _always _seemed calm.

"That's what I was afraid of," Stevie Rae muttered, cursing the fact that she'd lied to Zoey…_again._

"You did not wish me to be there?" he asked with a confused look on his bird-face.

"No, I was talkin' 'bout the fact that you don't think it was just a dream," Stevie Rae explained, "But it is kinda weird that you dreamt it too."

"Yes. It is also worrisome that your friend burst into many glittering parts, is it not?"

Stevie Rae couldn't help it; she laughed. Really dang hard. It felt so good, like it melted away all her worries like the sun melted an ice cream cone. It made her feel lighter inside, and when she finally calmed down, the look of uncertainty and concern on Rephaim's strange-lookin' face made her break into a laughin' fit all over again. She wiped the tears from her eyes just as the jet touched down, and she told Rephaim how she was going to get him off it.

A few moments later, Stevie Rae's head popped into the cockpit of the jet, and asked the flight attendant if she could help her take her stuff from the plane. She didn't _really_ need help, but it gave Rephaim the time and distraction to get off the plane with—hopefully—no one noticing. By this time, it was already dark in Greece, so Stevie Rae didn't need all that complicated protection stuff. So she hopped daintily onto a boat that a guide that had met her at the foot of the tarmac had led her too, and got into a deep conversation about what she was supposed to do if she dot seasick with the captain, so Rephaim could sneak onto the boat. It made her feel kinda uneasy, the way he snuck 'round so effortlessly.

The boat ride there seemed to take _forever, _and when they finally arrived at the island, Stevie Rae was so anxious to talk to her group that jumped from the boat and nearly forgot her bags and her companion. She distracted the captain again, got Rephaim a safe distance away from any spyin' eyes, and then made her way quickly to where her pals were. She walked with a purpose, a way to contact Zoey suddenly in her head. She had no idea where it may've come from, but she was going to try it out with her friends anyway.

"Now, you just stay out here, 'til I come and getcha," Stevie Rae instructed her imprintee, who nodded solemnly then dissolved into the darkness of the night. A brief thought crossed her mind; _what if he goes right to his daddy and tells him…stuff we don't want spilled?_ But she already knew the answer to that. Of course he wouldn't, and if he did, she would feel it.

This in mind, she hurried to the door and burst inside, not stopping to knock. She had delayed this trip for too long as it was; Lenobia wouldn't let her come 'cause she 'needed to heal'. So it had been three days since the phone call, and she had some things to tell her buddies. She asked a guard where Zoey Redbird could be found, and he told her after a quick glance at her red mark. Stevie Rae suddenly felt self conscious of her difference from regular vamyres, but almost immediately got over it. Why should she care what others thought of her?

"_Stevie Rae!"_ a high-pitched squeal came from behind her. She turned around, expecting one or both of Twins, but instead came face-to-face with Jack.

"Hiya' Jackie," Stevie Rae greeted him warmly, but then cut to the chase. "I need to see Damien and the Twins. And Aphrodite, too," she added as an afterthought; she had an awful lot of explainin' to do.

"Sure," Jack said brightly, and led the way.

When Stevie Rae and Jack entered the room, the mood change was definitely evident. There were flowers everywhere, sad people, and the atmosphere itself was gloomy and depressing. As she glanced at the hospital bed in the middle of the room, Stevie Rae stopped cold. There was Zoey, but all her pretty tattoos were gone, just like in her dream. And she was out cold, only breathing by herself. There was an IV in her arm and a catheter in her…well, ya know. The sight made Stevie Rae even more determined to help.

"Damien, Shaunee, Erin," she began, "I have an idea of how we can talk to Zoey…maybe."

At the sound of their names, each of her friends looked up at her and smiled in hello, but the smiles didn't reach their eyes. They walked toward her, and muttered greetings, as if they were in a sacred room where someone wasn't allowed to speak loudly.

"I had a dream, and Zoey was in it, only I don't think it was simply a dream." She began, ignoring questioning looks. Shaunee and Erin huddled with each other, and didn't seem to be really payin' attention to what Stevie Rae was sayin', so she spoke directly to Damien. "But I think, that if we make a circle and sorta summoned her spirit, that we might be able to talk to her."

The twins looked at her blankly, but Damien's eyes lit up a little.

"You may be right—why didn't we think of that before?"

"You got any lavender or somethin'?" Stevie Rae asked as she examined the room around her.

"Not here, but I don't think we'd _really _need them, because Zoey's spirit wouldn't be malevolent and irate. I hope," Damien added with a shudder.

"'Course she wouldn't, Damien! Jeez, just 'cause she's not with_ us_ doesn't mean she's gone all evil or somethin'!" Stevie Rae barked impatiently. "Now, let's get started. I've, uh, I've gotta explain some stuff."

Damien and the now-attentive Twins gave her another strange look before Shaunee dashed away to get some candles, Damien told Aphrodite their idea so she could represent spirit, and Erin led Stevie Rae to an open space a few feet away from Zoey's bed.

_Or, at least her body's bed, _Stevie Rea thought realistically. If Zoey's soul was really in a bazillion pieces, what were the chances that she was still hangin' out in her body?

"Got the candles!" Shaunee exclaimed as she sprinted towards Stevie Rae and Erin, carrying green, red, blue, yellow, and purple candles. She immediately handed Stevie Rae the green one, Erin the blue, and Damien and Aphrodite the yellow and purple ones as they arrived, keeping the blue candle for herself.

"Wait!" Jack cried from behind them as he ran up to them with something in his hand. "I have a lighter!"

"No need," Shaunee said wickedly, seeming more like her old self, as she snapped her fingers and a lick of flame shot out.

"Nice Twin," Erin commented.

"Never get's old," Shaunee agreed.

"It _is_ pretty cool," Jack piped in.

"Yeah, but we really need to—" Damien began before being rudely interrupted by Aphrodite.

"Goddess, just _shut up, _already!" She nearly shrieked, "We need to speak to Zoey if we want to get rid of Kalona, so you need to stop messing around!"

Stevie Rea was getting impatient too, and so she swung around towards the north, and said, "Damien, that's north," and he gratefully stepped into his place. When they were all situated in their particular spots, they just stood there, not knowing how to begin.

"Zoey usually initiates each element," said Damien thoughtfully, "So I suppose Aphrodite should introduce them, because she's taking Zoey's place."

Aphrodite sneered at him, and began the casting of the circle.

"Wind, help us blow Zoey's spirit back to us so we may converse with her," Aphrodite began before bein' interrupted by Shaunee and Erin's giggling.

"What is goin' on over there?" Stevie Rae asked incredulously as a tiny cyclone whipped Aphrodite and Damien's hair around when the candle lit.

"Sorry," Shaunee said bashfully, "We just—"

"—thought it sounded _really _funny the way she said it!" Erin finished with a giggle.

After giving them both a death glare, Aphrodite moved on to Shaunee.

"Fire, I call you to this circle to help us…uh, burn a path for Zoey to follow to get to us? Yeah, okay, you can laugh at that."

As Shaunee let out a melodic laugh, a burst of warmth radiated from her, and Stevie Rae watched in amazement as her hands glowed white-hot, but the candle in her hands did not melt or nuthin'. Ahrodite then moved onto Erin.

"I call Water to this circle; use your currents to give Zoey a push in our direction." As Shaunee used Fire to light the candle, a blue shimmer enveloped Erin and the salty smell of the sea drifted towards Stevie Rae, who breathed it in.

"Earth," Aphrodite began as she stepped towards Stevie Rae, "Please help guide Zoey to us, lead her in the right direction, and keep her on the straight path."

Stevie Rae felt the familiar feeling of grass beneath her feet and heard birds chirpin' and smelled the scent of …hmm, it was like wheat this time, only it smelled like it was being _burned…_

"Spirit, help us summon Zoey into this circle, bring her spirit to us so we may speak with her," Aphrodite didn't seem to notice the weirdness of the smell at all as she took her position in the center of the circle. As the candle lit, Stevie Rae was filled with a jubilant, bubbly sensation, meaning spirit had entered the circle. Aphrodite looked relieved that it had, as if she was expecting to be zapped again. For the first time, Stevie Rae noticed the lines of light connecting them, as they glowed even brighter at Spirit's entrance.

For a while, nothing appeared to be happening. But then, Stevie Rae noticed a sudden disturbance directly above the center of their circle, in the relative shape of a human.

_It's working! _She thought excitedly, as the figure became clearer and clearer, gaining color and definition with each second. There was the familiar brown hair, pretty hazel eyes, almost white skin, and purple tank top she had been wearing in Stevie Rae's dream. But last of all came the face. As Zoey slowly materialized in front of them, Stevie Rae could hear murmurs of elation from her friends. When all of Zoey was finally there, she was slightly translucent, 'cause she wasn't _really _there. It was just her spirit, or soul, or whatever you wanna call it. Then she spoke.

"Is this _another _dream?"

* * *

**No, Zoey, it is not a dream.**

**Any ideas on what's gonna happen next?**

**Hehe, _I _know. *Evil grin***

**And the more people that review, the faster _you'll _find out.**

**Your Pal,**

**ll SuperOreoMan ll**


	5. I'm feelin' alive, cause I just wrote 5!

**Thanks **_**again **_**to all of my loyal reviewers!!! Especially the ones who took _more _than 20 seconds out of their life to write a long, detailed review on why they liked my story. You know who you are ;) This time you guys get a brownie! ▓▌**

**Oops, I burned it a little. **

**I think you guys are gonna _love _this chapter! It makes things super intense!**

**PS, I don't know what EPA means. I mean, except Environmental Protection Agency and/or Exotic Plant Aromas, but neither of those exactly fit with this story XD**

* * *

_As Zoey slowly materialized in front of them, Stevie Rae could hear murmurs of elation from her friends. When all of Zoey was finally there, she was slightly translucent, 'cause she wasn't _really_ there. It was just her spirit, or soul, or whatever you wanna call it. Then she spoke._

"_Is this another dream?"_

* * *

**Zoey**

So I was floating around in nothingness, when I suddenly felt like I was being blown somewhere else. Quickly after that, I could sense an invisible fire guiding me the same way the wind was carrying me. Along with the fire came a feeling of waves gently caressing my skin, and the mild current pulling me ever-faster in the same direction. The sudden smell of wheat hit my nose and kept me on my steady path. A few moments later the nice scent of wheat became rancid and smoky as if it was being burned…or maybe the inedible part of it was being burned…the chaff?…

My thoughts of the discussion Kalona and I had had what seemed like weeks ago, but what must have been only a few days ago, left my mind as I seemed to spin as if down a drain. However, rather than feeling sucked downwards, I felt like I was being pushed one way, then another, until all of me was in one place. My gut told me that I was whole, but not, and a glance downward proved my hypothesis correct. I could see myself, just barely at first, but I got clearer and clearer as I felt myself fill with a spiritual high.

"_Zoey!" _the Twins squealed in unison when at last I was fully there. Stevie Rae looked excited and uneasy at the same time. Aphrodite was examining her nails in a totally lame attempt to seem nonchalant. Damien's face lit with triumph, and Jack bounced on his feet. _I _was kind of confused. What kind of dream _was_ this? I was still pretty see-through—it didn't look like I was going to become completely solid after all— and that made me wary. Whose dream was this? I ruled out Stevie Rae, because I'd just come from one with her; the Twins, because theirs would take place in a mall, I'm sure; and Aphrodite because…well, because. I immediately looked to Damien, because he seemed to be the most likely.

"Is this _your _dream?"

He looked at me strangely, and said "No," in a way that clearly stated that he doubted my mental stability. I sighed impatiently.

"Well, then whose dream is it? Or is this my imagination? Goddess, I'm going crazy," I muttered mostly to myself, but the others seemed to hear it as well. Then a flickering light caught my attention, and I noticed for the first time the intricate line of light connecting my friends. _They must have cast a circle, _I presumed, and then it hit me. Well, _duh. _All those sensations that had led me here, they were the elements. I briefly wondered who had represented Spirit with me gone, and spotted Aphrodite with the purple candle.

A wave of child-like jealousy gripped me for a moment, before I distastefully shook it off. Of course they would have to have a replacement, because I obviously was not there, being as I was the object of summoning. Or so I assumed, based on their reactions to my arrival.

"It's nobody's dream, it's not your imagination, and I have my doubts about your sanity," Aphrodite recited in a bored tone. I rolled my eyes at her, bringing them to rest on Stevie Rae, who smiled at me timidly.

"You have some explaining to do," I said quietly, hopefully so no one else could hear. I had tried to walk closer to her, but something was keeping me in place. I noticed with annoyance that every time someone in the circle stepped to the side even the slightest bit, I moved a little with them.

"So, what ha—" Damien began curiously just before the door slammed open, and a familiar red vampyre joined our group.

"Darius told me that Stevie Rae just arrived. Is she in here?" Stark said emotionlessly as his blank eyes moved around the circle. They halted on Stevie Rae, who then waved at him and told him that she was, indeed, here. He almost turned to leave when his dead eyes met mine, and the vacant expression on his face turned to one of disbelief as he looked me over. I wasn't surprised that it had taken this long to notice me; I was pretty dang see-through, and the circle that had brought me here made me stand unnaturally still, but not uncomfortably so.

"Stark," I whispered hoarsely through my abruptly burning throat. Tears threatened to spill out of my eyes, but I franticly blinked them away. We did _not _need more drama, not now. Stark's gaze shifted around the circle, as if he was unsure if he was dreaming or being tricked. When he met all smiling faces—with the exception of Aphrodite's, naturally—a teensy smile tugged at the corners of his pale lips, then the corners of his tired-looking eyes. He started towards me, but didn't come any closer than three feet away. His eyes suddenly looked distrustful.

"The last time I touched you," he began slowly, "You disappeared."

"Yeah, but I came back," I answered soothingly. "I'm okay."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, then closed his eyes.

"You kept your promise," Stark said after a moment. "But I can't feel you through my warrior's bond."

A soft "Hmm," from Damien reminded me that Stark and I weren't the only ones in the room. I looked at my feet in embarrassment, and wondered if the sudden warmth in my cheeks could bee seen by the others. When I looked up again, I saw four pairs of curious eyes looking at me. Aphrodite was still acting indifferent, and Stark and Stevie Rae had had a dream with me in it already. Which made me wonder exactly how much time I had here.

As if on cue, I became dizzy, but it was stronger than the previous times. I was nauseous, and had to put my hands to my head to stop the world from spinning.

"Zoey? Are you okay?"

"What's wrong with her, Twin?"

"Try to stay with us, Zoey!"

I subdued the vertigo as best I could, pushing it into the farthest corner of my mind that I could, and stood up straight again. I guess I hadn't realized that I'd keeled over. I didn't start glowing, so I guess that means I'd stopped the…transformation? That was all _I_ could think to call it, anyway.

"Yeah," I breathed, "I'm okay."

"You said 'the last time I touched you'; does that mean you've seen Zoey since…you know," Damien inquired, addressing Stark.

"Yeah," Stark and I answered at the same time.

"Me too," Stevie Rae added.

"How? And why didn't you mention it before now?" Shaunee asked crossly.

"In a dream, and I only just woke up," Stark added defensively, and more like his old self.

"Me too," Stevie Rae repeated, "And I just arrived, so ya'll can't be upset with me. I only just had the dream on the jet."

"Sooo, does that mean that Zoey, can, like—"

"—enter people's dreams? Cool!" Erin began, and Shaunee finished for her.

"I don't know," I stated softly, "It seems like more than that too me. I met with Heath twice, Stevie Rae once, Stark once, and…" I hesitated, not knowing how they'd react to the other person. Uh, dark, fallen angel thing. I swallowed, and at last admitted, "Kalona."

This, of course, caused everyone to talk at once, and for me to lose my very unstable control on the dizziness. The talking came to a stand-still as I saw my skin begin to glow, shedding an eerie light on the surrounding people. The Twins, Damien, Jack, and a now very interested Aphrodite jumped to my rescue—or might I say doom—and tried to help me with whatever was happening.

"No!" I heard Stark shout, and at the same time Stevie Rae said earnestly, "Try to keep her with us with your elements, guys!"

"Just try again some other time!" I cried as five people grabbed at me at once, and I became a shower of shimmering dust.

* * *

Floating, floating, floating….not floating. Back in that cursed ballroom thing with Kalona. I saw him dressing his still bleeding wound with a scrap of material ripped from his pants—well, now they were capris—and he was too distracted by it to notice me appear suddenly in a corner of the room. I held my nose and swiftly ducked under a table covered in a sheet, like those ones to protect stuff from dust. I've never understood those. Dust is _so _not dangerous. Unlike the guy I was hiding from underneath a dust-protected table.

As I watched him from under the table, he stood up, brushing the remaining bits of glass off of himself. He stretched his wings, and unexpectedly crouched down and picked something up off the ground. I couldn't see what it was, but I got a glimpse of it just as he placed it in his pocket. It just looked like a piece of material that he'd ripped off from his pants to stop his bleeding.

A stifled rustling came from behind me, and my leg began to tremble slightly. I gasped while I stifled a shriek as I lifted my leg and a _rat _skittered away from me. It stopped after a few inches, turned back to me, and squeaked as if telling me off for sitting on him. I jumped away from it and hit my head on the table above me, creating a loud, resounding _thud_ as the table connected with my head.

"Crap," I whispered franticly as I heard rapid footsteps heading in my direction. I shimmied farther over and away from where the noise had come from, as I tried to remember any doors leading out of this room. There had been big, solid doors at the end of the ballroom, but the door I'd burned through to get in here was closer.

"A-ya, please, I know how we can be together," His voice rang clear in the large, empty room.

A hand grasped the bottom of the sheet, and I tensed up, getting ready to run. As the hand whipped the sheet from the table, I jumped to my feet and dashed out the door, Kalona hard on my heels. When we came to the familiar intersection, I took the smallest passageway, hoping it was too thin for him to fly through. I heard him grunt in irritation and assumed I had done the right thing. With this newfound optimism came newfound speed, and my legs pumped faster than I thought they ever had before. Kalona kept right up with me.

It was a while before I saw another intersection of hallways, but when I reached it the smallest hallway was barred off for construction. They were widening it. How quaint. I chose the one on the right, and turned sharply, hoping it would throw him off.

"A-ya!" Kalona growled from behind me. I didn't look to check, but I think my little maneuver had slowed him down a little. I saw a door at the end of the hallway before me, and sped up even faster, determined to reach it in time to slam and lock it in his face. I reached it, whipped it open, slammed it shut, and kept running. I had expected it to be a new room, and it was. However, I was most definitely _not _expecting there to be a giant curtain in my way, and so was completely unprepared for the heavy, red drape that engulfed me as I tried to run through the room.

I struggled with it, trying to escape, which of course made me get tangled up it. I heard the door open, and held my breath, hoping he might not notice the giant red curtain laying on the floor. Yeah, right. I heard his stupid, gloating laugh—which hurt my ego and my chances of escape—and immediately began to fight with my unintentional captor once again. Two huge arms wrapped around me, curtain and all, and set me down a moment later on something soft. I felt him fiddling with the thick cocoon around me, and made it almost impossible for me to move. He then found my head and released it from the red drape, pulling it off roughly and leaving my hair all messy.

I tried to squirm my arms out of my prison, to no avail. He had made it tighter, and impossible to escape from. I glared at him as he smiled at what I assume was my untidy hair, and I tried to blow it out of my eyes. His hand came down and brushed it aside, caressing my face in the same movement. I shivered at his cold touch.

From what I saw around me, I guessed that we were in a bedroom. Oh, Goddess. He had placed me on a bed, but perpendicular to the traditional way of laying in one. I felt the bed sink as he sat next to me.

"A-ya, now that I have you where I want you, I am now going to show you how we can truly be together," Kalona began, reminding me ironically of the 'I gotcha where I wantcha, and now I'm gonna eatcha!' joke that everyone thought was so funny when you were a kid. Eatcha. Great. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out the fabric I had seen him place there earlier. I wondered what he planned on doing with that. A gag? A blindfold? A handkerchief? I smiled slightly at the last one. Yeah, a _jean _hankie.

Instead of gagging, blinding, or wiping my snot with it—and, just to let you know, I did _not _have snot on me—he unfolded it. And I gasped. Because what was inside scared me to death. I knew what he was going to do, even before he spoke.

"You are a very unusual fledgling," he murmured, holding out the large, rather sharp shard of glass so it shone in the light. "You have imprinted with two others before; that boy and the professor Neferet killed."

His words sliced fear through me faster than the glass splinter would slice him. He'd just admitted that Neferet was behind the murder of Loren Blake, the professor at the House of Night I had had an affair with. And also his intent scared me. I swallowed as he brought the razor-sharp edge of the sliver of glass closer to his throat.

"Please," I plead in a small, quivering voice, "Please don't."

My words actually seemed to have the desired effect. He halted for a moment, and just looked at me, then the shard of glass.

"I have to," He finally declared. "It's the only way we can truly be together."

And with his words he swiftly drew the sliver of glass across his throat, drawing a small well of blood. I, not having my hands to cover my nose, quickly ceased to breath. He lowered his neck down towards me, at the same time slowly unraveling me from the thick curtain. When I could hold my breath no longer, I tried to shove him away from me with my newly-freed hands, but he didn't budge. My lungs burned as I tried to hold my breath longer. I tightened my lips as his neck lowered to mere millimeters away, and the world grew hazy from lack of oxygen. Or, if I was lucky, an escape route.

Then, three terrible things happened at once:

1) I could not hold my breath any longer, and I opened my mouth to suck in much-needed air.

2) A single drop of his blood dripped down from his close neck, and into my now opened mouth.

3) I loved it. I couldn't help but love it. I was addicted before it touched my tongue.

I ungraciously wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me. His body, now warm, relaxed, and he fell onto the bed next to me. When I licked his cut, it began to drip blood faster and faster, but it still wasn't fast enough. I felt it the second our imprint formed, but that just made me want his blood all the more. Part of me—the rational Zoey—screamed for me to stop or the world would end, but the other part,—the _ir_rational A-ya—who was the bigger part, the one in complete control, told me to get closer to him and drink deeper.

I dug my nails into the back of his head as I tried to draw him closer, but he was already too close. I heard him sigh as I drank intensely, and he whispered in my ear:

_"Now, you are mine…"_

* * *

**And here's where I stop. It got a little awkward for me to write, so I just stopped writing. And, no they do not have sex. Just yummy blood. I don't write sex stuff, so it will most certainly NOT be in this story. Even what I _did _write was pushing my limits.**

**Okay, and this is something I am confused about: Is Kalona a vampyre? I don't remember it ever saying…**

**Hehe. I love working in the title in subtle ways. Hehe. Didja catch it?**

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	6. Somethin' new in da mix, with chapta 6!

**It's time for another chapter of... TRANSFORMED!!!**

**Sorry it took so long to put up, I was actually _dis_couraged to write this chapter because of an obviously thoughtless review I got.  
And I had to rewrite it numerous times because the computer did weird things....and I've learned to save every few seconds. So sorry if it isn't good, I didn't have time to proofread, and I wanted to get it to you guys ASAP.**

**And, once again, thanks to those of you that reviewed, and especially to those who took longer than 20 seconds! You're _awesome_!  
This time you get an orange! Õ yum…  
And a cherry! δ mmm…  
And a strawberry! Ω**

**It's fruit salad! (yummy, yummy!) Kinda...**

**Just use your I**_**m**_a_**gi**_**N**_**a**__t__**i**_**O**_**n**_

houseofnightlover1897: Hey, I don't know if you noticed, but this site is called _FANFICTION _for a reason. People are _supposed _to write their own version of books they love, and if you hate my story so much, STOP READING IT. Maybe you just googled the book and this is what came up, but you really shouldn't jump to hateful conclusions. And yes, chapter three _was_ weird, but I said that it was and I couldn't think of another way to end up having her taste his blood. So deal with it. And how did you not notice my author's comments on every single chapter??? You don't have to be such a jerk-face.  
Sorry if that was rude, but you kind of deserved it.

**Enjoy!_

* * *

_**

**Aphrodite**

"Just try again some other time!" Zoey yelled as Aphrodite and the nerd herd reached out for her at the same time. And then, what used to be Zoey was suddenly a bunch of glittering pieces drifting steadily to the floor.

Aphrodite just stared at where her—she couldn't deny it anymore—_friend_ had been standing just moments before. Some of the sparkly dust falling to the floor was headed towards Aphrodite's arm, but instead of landing on her, they passed right through her still outstretched hand and slowly disappeared as they neared the ground. She swiftly clutched her hand to herself and tried to rub away the strange tingles going down her arm.

"It's alright," Stevie Rae soothed. "She just…_does _that."

"Yeah," Stark agreed shakily, "She did that in my dream, too."

"Where is she now?" Jack sniffled from beside Damien, who promptly wrapped his arm around Jack's shoulders.

Nobody seemed to be able to answer that, and so they all just stood in their kind-of circle, the light that had been connecting them now gone.

"Well," Stark began reluctantly after a few uncomfortable minutes, "I guess you should all get some sleep, it's getting late." As if on cue, Shaunee and Erin yawned together, and the clock on the fireplace's mantle chimed. Aphrodite fought a yawn in response to theirs, and wordlessly left the room. As she approached her room, she stretched her arms and finally let herself yawn. Now that she thought about it, she'd been up almost fourteen hours straight, busy being worried about Zoey.

"Zoey owes me," she growled to no one in particular as she entered her empty bedroom and began getting ready for some major beauty sleep. She decided to take a nice, long, hot shower, hoping that it might make her feel better. Or at least less gross.

Aphrodite used up a lot of the hot water, and by the end of her extended time in the shower, the water had become cold. After she got dressed, she brushed her teeth to get that totally nasty taste out and brushed her hair then put it in a ponytail so it wouldn't get tangled as she slept. Just as she was about to lay down, she heard her cell phone vibrate on the bedside table her. She glared at it for a few seconds, before completely ignoring it and just going to bed. She fell asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

* * *

_Aphrodite was standing in that same field from her previous half-vision with Kalona and Zoey, and she could tell right away that she was having another vision. She prayed to the merciful Goddess that it wouldn't be as painful as her last one._

_Kalona stepped out of the forest on the opposite side of where Aphrodite was standing. He turned a little and beckoned coldly behind him. A tired-looking Zoey suddenly appeared flanked by three Raven Mockers. She stumbled forward and Kalona reached out to help her, but she shied defiantly away from him. This seemed to anger him. He began talking to her in a low voice, and Aphrodite could not hear what was being said. Zoey narrowed her eyes and shook her head determinedly at Kalona, and he angrily stepped forward and released his rage onto Aphrodite and the humans and vampyres she hadn't noticed were around her._

_Excruciating pain ran through Aphrodite's veins, and she heard screaming from all around her. It was exactly how she had felt in the first vision of Zoey and Kalona, and she tried not to fall to the ground from the immense pain consuming her body. She saw flames, and smelled the stench of burning grain—it must have been wheat, or chaff, or whatever—amongst other burning smells. Just when she thought she would have to die from sheer pain, it stopped, and she was suddenly standing again._

It must be another half-vision, _Aphrodite guessed, hoping that this one, like in her other vision, would be less painful in the second half. She looked up, to see Kalona emerging from the forest yet again. This time, however, Zoey was beside him, her hand in his, happy and looking very much at peace. As they approached the gathered bunch of humans and vampyres, Kalona motioned towards them in a way of grandeur. The burning sensation began again, and Aphrodite could see the evident look of alarm on Zoey's face. _

_Even through her horrible pain, Aphrodite could see Zoey and Kalona. She watched as Zoey turned to Kalona and looked deep into his eyes, then tentatively reached up to kiss him. As their lips met, the terrible screaming and pain ended, and Kalona became enveloped in such a bright light it was hard to see anything, even Aphrodite's own hands in front of her. There was a loud _whoosh-_ing sound, and suddenly there was only black._

* * *

When Aphrodite's senses returned, she was shivering, shaking, and in someone's arms. They were telling her to 'hush' and that 'everything would be okay'. Darius' deep, soothing voice calmed her down enough to realize that she couldn't see. _Again._ Her hands flew up to her face, and she felt her swollen eyes and sweaty face.

"I must look like crap," she croaked softly.

"Well, you certainly have looked better," Darius admitted, sounding anxious and amused at the same time. "Such as when your eyes are not completely blood-shot."

"C-can you get me a towel? A cold, wet, towel?" Aphrodite asked shakily.

"Of course."

She felt Darius get up beside her, and even though she was sweating, she missed his warmth. While he was gone, she thought about what had just happened. Never before had she had a vision while she was asleep, so something drastic _must_ have happened. And while this vision wasn't _much _different than the other one, there were some subtle distinctions she had noticed. For one, in the first half, Zoey was never on Kalona's side at all, and during the second half, her _kiss _ended the pain and misery. Aphrodite thought about this as Darius returned with a wonderful-feeling towel and placed it over her eyes.

"What time is it?" Aphrodite asked after about five minutes and most of her sight back.

"About eight AM. I could feel your...anxiousness, through our bond, and came to your service." Darius whispered back.

"Well," Aphrodite began as she started to stand up, not the slightest bit surprised that she'd only slept for an hour. "It was a vision, and one that I think the nerd herd and Stark should hear about." But, after thinking about it, Stark was partof the nerd herd now, too, wasn't he?

"Yes, that would be wise."

Aphrodite could see _almost _as good as new, so she grasped Darius' arm and walked back towards Zoey' s room. To her surprise, everyone was still in the room. She opened her mouth to tell them about her vision, but noticed Stevie Rae on the phone just in time. She rolled her eyes and clamped her mouth shut, wanting everyone's attention for what she had to say, and noticed Stevie Rae writing something down on a notepad.

"That it?" she heard Stevie Rae ask as she neared the table the whole nerd herd—including Stark—was standing around. "Alright. Thanks, Kramisha. Yeah, we'll do our best. Yeah, you too. See ya."

She flipped her phone shut, and let out a huge sigh.

"What did it say?" Damien pressed; for what, Aphrodite had no idea.

Stevie Rae held out the notepad so everyone could see it, and Aphrodite read the words along with everyone else:

'The dark angel's shadow,  
Beclouds her keen sense.  
Compelled by a bond,  
Everlasting by his Mark.

Her time has yet to come,  
But beware a stark Betrayal.  
A decision must be made,  
And should wrong be the Chosen,

An Untamed conniption  
Shall Hunt upon men.  
But Tempting with love  
Heals a sad broken soul;

They will be Transformed.  
And the nefarious Kalona  
Will be expunged  
Forever.'

For a few moments, nobody spoke. As she read the poem again, Aphrodite rolled her eyes; she _hated _it when poems didn't rhyme. Without the rhyming, they were just a bunch of really big, _annoying, _descriptive words.

"Uh, Damien—" One 'Twin' began, and the other finished.

"—could you please translate?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. Let's go line by line, like usual." Damien glanced down at the piece of paper, and Aphrodite rolled her eyes at his suddenly teacher-like formality. "The 'dark angel' _has _to refer to Kalona, and I will assume 'her' is referring to Zoey."

"So basically it's saying that Kalona's evilness is clouding Zoey's judgment," Stark clarified.

"Yes," Damien nodded at him. "And 'compelled by a bond' must refer to the fact that Zoey is A-ya reincarnated, and still has suppressed feelings for Kalona. But this next one, 'Everlasting by his Mark—"

"What if Kalona hurt her!" Jack added quite shrilly.

"No!" Stark shouted quickly, his eyes darting from Jack to Damien. "I mean, I would feel that, right?"

"Who knows? Weird things are happening. Maybe your oath doesn't apply any more." Aphrodite stated exasperatedly after rolling her eyes at the recently-edgy Stark. He was such a spazz. If anything else happened, she was sure he'd explode. Damien simply stared at the paper, a thoughtful look on his face.

"His mark…" he trailed off, clearly trying to think of anything this could mean, or symbolize. "The only thing I can think of is that he's harmed her, or is somehow threatening her?" The last bit was a question, and he looked uncertain. Aphrodite didn't think Kalona was harming or blackmailing Zoey, but she couldn't think of anything else it _could _mean. But, whatever it was, Aphrodite got a really bad feeling about Zoey when she thought about her vision and the poem.

"'Her time has yet to come'," Damien moved on, "Which probably refers to Kalona's fall or rise, and Zoey's role in it. And then there's this 'But beware a stark betrayal'—"

"Me?" Stark's head snapped up and his eyes clouded with confusion. "But I'm her warrior, I could never—"

"Let me repeat myself," Aphrodite interrupted, enunciating very precisely. She had to prevent The Spazz from exploding his grimy guts all over her new fuzzy socks. "Things are really weird right now. _Maybe_ your oath does not apply anymore."

She let her words sink in before rapidly leaning into Darius' side, a wave of exhaustion sweeping over her. The nerd herd all sent nasty looks in her direction, then continued on their merry way. She almost rolled her eyes again, but she'd rolled them so much already, they were beginning to ache.

"'A decision must be made, And should wrong be the Chosen,' that's pretty self explanatory," Damien continued quickly, changing the subject. "An Untamed conniption Shall Hunt upon men.'"

"'Conniption'?"

"Teach us, O wise and insightful Damien!" Erin cried, throwing her arms into the air with humorously fake worship.

Aphrodite rolled her eyes once again, and the hint of a smile that had been tugging at the corners of her mouth vanished as a wave of throbbing pain took hold of her sore eyes and skull. She held back a moan of displeasure, and began to warily rummage through her purse, that she had thankfully brought, for the ibuprofen that had to be in there somewhere.... She was really beginning to wish she'd brought an icepack or something; her eyes were becoming sore again.

"Nice, Twin," Shaunee complemented.

"Conniption," Damien began with a grin, "Means a hysterical fit of emotion, usually anger or excitement."

"So basically, if the wrong choice is made we're all screwed?" Aphrodite added tiredly, finally finding the pill bottle.

"Basically."

"Okay. Great."

"What choice does it mean?" Stevie Rae wondered aloud, speaking for the first time in some time. Aphrodite slowly examined the room for any water bottles or glasses anywhere, to no avail.

"Well, we'll just have to see, won't we?" Shaunee answered brightly.

"Ahem," Damien cleared his throat to carry on with the decrypting of the poem. "But Tempting with love Heals a sad broken soul.'"

"Zoey said something about Kalona being a fallen angel, and how he used to be one of Nyx's warriors until she banished him for something," Stark started uncertainly. "Maybe that's what 'a sad broken soul' means."

"Makes sense. And 'Tempting with love' could, again, refer to Zoey being a reincarnation of A-ya, and how she could just allow herself to love Kalona," Damien tried tentatively, and was met with blank looks from the rest of the group. "Maybe she's supposed to," he defended himself, "Maybe she's supposed to fool him into _thinking _that she loves him..."

"That could have some really nasty results," Shaunee began.

"Yeah, like some totally disgusting mutant bird-children!" Erin finished with a grimace. Aphrodite dry swallowed the pills and grimaced herself--both at the gross feeling of the pills stuck in her dry throat and at the vivid picture of Raven Mocker babies her mind brought up. Yeesh.

"I don't think she'd let it go that far," Jack insisted, "And maybe Kalona would actually listen to her if he believed she loved him."

Aphrodite's eyes were beginning to water from the stuck pills, which made her eyes feel slightly better, but did nothing to un-stick the tablets. She swallowed for the umpteenth time, and excused herself quietly from the room. Darius would fill her in later. She rubbed her neck, in hopes of dislodging the medicine, but was having no such luck. She entered the first bathroom she saw, grabbed a dixie cup that was luckily on the counter, filled it with water, and quickly downed it all. The pills had moved a bit, but Aphrodite took another drink to wash them completely down. She then splashed cold water onto her face and aching eyes, which began to feel a little better. She breathed in deeply, dried her face, and headed back towards the nerd herd and Darius.

When she entered they were still on the last stanza. Aphrodite nticed that Damien was holding a book and was quickly flipping through it's pages. As she got closer she realized it was a dictionary, and she raised her eyebrows in surprise. Since when did Damien, King of All Words Known to Man, need the help of a Dictionary? Damien was looking flustered, probably because he didn't know right off the top of his head what a word was.

A warm arm snaked around Aphrodite's waist, drawing her closer to Darius. He explained gently to her that Damien was looking up the definition of 'Nefarious', and asked if she was feeling any better. She said that she was, and pondered the meaning of the word... Nefarious... It rang a bell...

"Here it is!" Damien cried with triumph as he at last found the word. "'Nefarious- adjective; extremely wicked or villainous; iniquitous: _a nefarious plot_.' So it means the Evil Kalona."

"Oh my good_ness!"_Stevie Rea squealed. "Ya'll realize what this means? The name, it just fits!"

When she was met by more blank stares, she rolled her eyes impatiently and explained. "_Nefarious..._ _Neferet... _Neferet's _evil_, nefarious _means_ evil..."

"Her mother was so cruel."

"Too true, Twin."

"Not necessarily," Aphrodite said, feeling slightly better. "She could have chosen that name for herself when she first entered the House of Night, meaning she chose that name for herself."

"Creepy," Jack broke the momentary silence and shuddered. "That's just weird as all get out."

"And Kalona and Neferet are, like, _together, _and they're both 'wicked', so it kinda has a double meanin'," Stevie Rea pointed out.

"And it says 'Will be expunged Forever', meaning that Kalona will be destroyed forever," Damien hastily redeemed his lack of knowledge.

"So, altogether, it means--"

"--Kalona is clouding Zoey's judgement because she's A-ya,"

"And she's gonna be betrayed by Stark--"

"--And has to make a choice."

"One which will end badly,"

"And one which will end in Kalona being destroyed. Which is good." Shaunee and Erin smiled at each other, and Aphrodite was weirded out.

"Yeah," Aphrodite sighed, "And you just wait 'till what _I_ have to say."

* * *

**Hehe, did ya see how I put all the titles of all da books in da poem? Sorry if you didn't like it, I just wrote what first popped into my mind. And that had all the book titles in it. You can diss it if it so pleases you.**

**Tell me watcha think; Review! You guys *sniff* have been the best *stifles a sob* reviewers I've ever *sniff* had for any story EVER!!! *breaks out into tears...of HAPPINESS!!!***

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**Your Pal,**

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	7. Yay,Chapter 7! What Nothin rhymes with 7

**Thanks again to everyone that reviewed!!! You guys rock!!! \m/**

**For this chapter: Each POV is at a different time-- for instance, the first is right when Stevie Rae first entered the Greek place, the second is after everybody figured out the poem, and the third is while the poem is being deciphered (and before the second ends). It's not quite as complicated as it sounds right now when you read it. Even as I read this I am confused. I'M SORRY FOR SO MUCH CONFUSION!!!**

**Just thought I'd tell you.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Rephaim**

As soon as the Red One was inside, Rephaim hobbled forward into the darkness. He closed his eyes and felt the direction he should go in, and followed his instincts. He stood below the window he would enter through, and looked doubtfully up at it. It was about thirty feet from the ground, and surrounded by a balcony. The wall of the building was smooth, and there was nothing to grip onto to help him climb up. His eyes narrowed to slits as he realized what he would have to do.

Rephaim wandered to a different window nearby, one that was only a few feet from the ground. He checked inside to make sure no one was in the room, and carefully stepped onto the window ledge. He looked for the nearest window, and it was up about seven more feet and to the right of him about four. He reached out and gripped the window's edge before quickly shutting off his link to the Red One. He had a similar cerebral link to his father, but it had become weaker with distance. He knew his father was close by through this bond, and told him he was coming through it.

The bond he shared with the Red One was not as evolved as the one with his father, for she had never experienced anything like it before. For instance, he and his father could converse through theirs, but the Red One hadn't seemed to figure it out that deeply yet. He knew that Neferet shared a bond with his father similar to Rephaim's with the Red One. Since Neferet was linked to his father and he was as well, Rephaim had been forced to do much of her bidding. However, she did not understand the full extent of this bond, and Rephaim hoped that she wouldn't. She was powerful and hard to disobey enough as it was, and she was getting stronger every day. Rephaim had never liked her much.

From what he could tell, his bond with the Red One ran much deeper than any other imprint before, and even deeper than the Red One herself believed. And so Rephaim had cut off their link in a way he hoped she wouldn't notice, and so that she would not feel the pain he was about to experience and rush out to help him. He blocked the pain from his father so that he wouldn't have to endure it with Rephaim, and leaped.

Excruciating pain shot through his wing as he used his wings to propel him upward. His eyes watered with pain and he almost let out a whimper to accompany it. He just barely landed on this window, and crouched there, shaking. He slowly brought his head up as he realized that he had forgotten to check if anyone was in this room. He saw the quick movement of a heel disappearing into a bathroom and witnessed the door soundlessly shutting. He breathed out, not having realized that he was holding it, and looked for the next window he would be aiming for; his wing aching even more at the simple thought of repeating that stunt.

The next window was directly above him, about seven feet again, and this time he checked for anyone to be in it. It was empty, and he jumped suddenly in an attempt to prevent his muscles from tensing beforehand. This propelled jump was even worse than the first one, and he took several shaking breaths before selecting his next path and seeing if it was clear. The easiest one was a window only a couple feet away to his right, but that room had somebody in it, so Rephaim picked a harder way. Straight up, seven feet.

As he sprang, he suddenly noticed a pole jutting out from the wall in the middle of his course, and tried to avoid it. Too late, he hit it with his bad wing, jolting back on the only half-blocked connection with his father, and sending an unbearable amount of pain through his ravaged body. He guiltily sensed his father feeling his pain, and tried to cut it off again. He clutched blindly for anything to halt his decent to the ground, and grabbed what felt like some sort of gargoyle on the edge of a window ledge.

Rephaim hung there, eyes closed, shaking with effort but too tired and weak to pull himself up. A groan echoed in the courtyard behind him, and he realized that it was his own. He cursed himself out loud for lack of discipline and heard the sudden flutter of wings. But instead of growing farther from him, they became closer, and he could soon feel a light breeze rustling his feathers and hair. The link with his father was forced open again, and Rephaim heard his father's voice in his head and with his ears.

"Rephaim, what's happened?" His father sounded appalled at the sight of him, and Rephaim didn't blame him. He could feel himself bleeding again, and his wing was twisted at an awkward angle—even more so than what had been usual since he broke it. He was still shaking, and he knew he must look unhealthy and pale to his father's eyes. His father's warm hands were suddenly pulling him away from the wall, and carrying him upward. Even through all the pain, it felt good to be in the air again.

_I have broken my wing, and probably sprained it just now, if not worse, _Rephaim told his father sadly through their link.

He could feel his father falter a little at this, and asked him if he thought he'd ever fly again.

_No, _Rephaim answered simply, busy trying to stop a wave of emotions from taking him over. He was tired, guilty, filled with despair, content, angry, grateful, confused. He would tell his father what had happened in his absence, he would…right after resting…yes, _that's_ what he needed: _rest…_

* * *

**Stevie Rae**

She didn't know _what _had changed, but Stevie Rae was almost certain something had.

The sun was beginning to rise, so Stevie Rae sprinted to the room she had been assigned to. She finally reached it, swiftly pulled the door open, and was extremely thankful that the blinds on her window had been shut tight. She sighed, and plopped down into one of those comfy egg-chairs. Fatigue coursed through her, and she was finally starting to feel the effects of the time differences between the US and Greece. She closed her eyes, rubbed her temples, and let her mind wander.

When Aphrodite had told them about her visions, Stark had walked right out of the room. He seemed calm, but Stevie Rae was sure he was gonna do somethin' stupid to blow off steam. From what everybody'd all figured out, Zoey had to fall in love with Kalona or the world would end. Or at least pretend to love him, because everyone knew that she never actually _would. _But Stark hadn't liked that idea one bit. He was sure there was some other way to do things.

And then there was that change Stevie Rae could just _sense. _She'd felt a little twinge in her mind a couple of minutes after she first entered the building she was in now, and another while everybody was reading through the poem. She didn't know what it was, then or now, and it had distracted her throughout the translation of Kramisha's poem. And now there was something there, in the back of her mind. Stevie Rae thought that it might be something that Rephaim was thinkin' about, but she couldn't be sure. It was just this little place in her mind, eating at her until she could hardly bear the curiosity any longer.

She jumped up, and almost ran to the 'kitchen' in her room. Basically, it was a mini-fridge, a microwave, a sink, and some cupboards. She opened the fridge, hoping that there would be some blood in it, and sighed in relief when there was. She removed one of the small baggies, and wondered why it was so tiny. As she grabbed a couple more she guessed that it was because _everything _in hotels seemed to be mini, and this practically was one. There was room service, a front desk, _very _nice rooms, and she thought she remembered someone saying that there was a pool, arcade, and ballroom. She couldn't even begin to guess why they would need all that in a place where the Council lived. But then again, they probably got a lot of visitors.

Stevie Rae leaned against the wall and began draining her blood-bagies. She was still recovering from almost bein' fried to death, and so needed a bunch of blood. She yearned for Rephaim's, even as she was drinking the tiny bags, and began to wonder where he'd gone off to.

Suddenly, she heard a low _thump _from outside her window, and a little rustling as well. There was a grunt and a hurried knocking on the window, and Stevie Rae could only stand where she was in surprise. She got over it quickly, and swiftly darted to her window, now sensing who it was. She stopped short of the window, just as there was more knocking, and braced herself to be burned. She stood right next to the wall, hopefully out of reach of the suns rays, and opened the blinds—only to find that no sunlight was coming through.

Stevie Rae peeked out the window and saw nothing but black…feathers? She fumbled with the window and finally got it open. In one fluid motion, Rephaim closed his wings, slid through the window, and shut the window, which was now shedding a gentle light throughout the room. Stevie Rae longed to feel the warmth of sun on her face once again, without bein' burnt to a crisp, and almost wished that she'd never been marked in the first place. But then she thought about how much _wouldn't _have happened if that _were_ to have happened, and quickly dispelled the wish.

"What took you so long?" Rephaim demanded gruffly, and Stevie Rae was surprised at the emotion contained in his low voice. His usually emotionless stature and attitude was now filled with a writhing, feuding horde of emotions that Stevie Rae couldn't even begin to decipher. Even his feathers were ruffled, his eyes wide, and he was fidgeting nervously. But he looked physically much better. His wing looked totally fixed, and he just seemed healthier in general. He looked around the room, as if to check to make sure no one was eavesdropping on them.

"I-I have to tell you—" Rephaim began urgently, but cut himself off with a weird choking noise. "Never mind," he said softly a few moments later, and anger and frustration shone in his conflicted eyes for a mere second before clouding over with his usual blank stare.

"You can tell me," Stevie Rae prodded, anxious because he was; his emotions building on hers.

"No," Rephaim replied, a grim look on his face. "I can't."

And suddenly, Stevie Rae felt a familiar twinge in the back of her mentality, and couldn't feel a single thing from Repahim's mind.

* * *

**Rephaim**

When he woke up, he'd almost forgotten where he was. Rephaim had become accustomed to waking up in the dark—weather it be a garden shed, underground, or in an abandoned shack. But now, a dim light was glaring into his sleepy eyes. Memories washed over him, and he sat up. He yawned as he looked around the room, and his eyes froze on a solitary shape sitting in a chair near a dresser in the corner.

Neferet stood up gracefully, flicking her long hair over her shoulder and smiling sweetly at him, and Rephaim scowled for so short a time, no human would be able to have seen it. Unfortunately for him, Neferet wasn't human. In fact, she wasn't even completely vampyre anymore, either. By this time, she was something far worse; Queen Tsi Sgili.

Her eyes narrowed as she noticed his accidental micro expression, and she swept over to him. He was sitting on a bed, and he could smell his father's scent, although it smelled as if he'd just left the room. She leaned over Rephaim and laughed, blowing a sickly sweet aroma to himc.

"So," Neferet held the word, drawing a question in the air with it. "I _know _that you have something with Stevie Rae," she said the name scornfully. "I just don't know what. _Yet." _

Rephaim said nothing, just glared into her eyes. She used to shiver at his unnatural appearance and frightening red eyes, but now she glared back with twice as much abhorrence. Neferet must have sensed the Red One's imprint on him through his connection to his father. He tightened his father's link, but knew it was too late.

"Well," Neferet continued, almost as kindly as her breath, "We need 'The Red One' to get what we want. And _you _are going to help us get to her." She rested her hand on Rephaim's damaged wing, and he braced himself for terrible pain. But instead of relentless pain, he felt only the gentle pressure of her hand. She smiled wickedly at him and whispered, "You _owe_ me."

"No," he said calmly, "I owe Kalona._ He_ is the one that saved me from a terrible fall."

"Yes," she hissed impatiently. "But _I _was the one who healed you. _Completely."_

Rephaim's heart leapt at this claim—he _would _fly again!— but he remained impassive. He also was beginning to become nervous—she had gained this much power in such a short length of time?

Her lips curled upward in a sneer.

"You _will _help us, and do you know _why_?" She paused as if awaiting an answer, but continued on after receiving no response. "Because I know how to get to you now. You _care_ for her, don't you?"

Rephaim didn't need to ask who 'she' was. Neferet meant Stevie Rae; the Red One. At her words, Rephaim felt a swell of emotions; an urge to protect her, fear at what Neferet might do, and even more unidentifiable ones. He had never felt this way about anyone before, even his father or siblings, and it baffled him. A brief expression of confusion broke through his mask, and Neferet knew that she'd gotten to him. She stepped away just as the door opened and Kalona stepped into the room. Kalona looked at his son, who by now had returned to his indifferent expression, and at Neferet.

Rephaim vaguely heard Neferet and his father talking about how they could use the Red One to their benefit, but Rephaim's mind was elsewhere. Their conversation lasted only about five minutes, and Kalona left the room once more.

And suddenly, her voice was in his ear again.

"And even if threats don't work," Neferet jeered, "I will soon _make _you help us. I have become _much _stronger in your absence."

Rephaim couldn't help it--he shivered. And Neferet waltzed away, cackling. Rephaim tried to stand and speak up, but something held him where he was, and not a sound escaped him.

"_Much_ stronger," Neferet repeated, this time sounding much more serious.

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**I cannot, for the life of me, remember **_**what **_**building they are all in. If anyone could remind me, it would be very much appreciated.**

**Reviews make me write faster!!!**

**Your Pal,**

**ll SuperOreoMan ll**


	8. None shall mate, in Chapter Eight!

**This is my Christmahanakwanzika present to all of you!**

**Sorry if this chapter stinks. I was at a loss of what to write. But I found something, and hopefully you like it! ****And sorry if anything is misspelled or something; my keyboard is acting weird. I _think _I fixed it all...**

**Oh, yeah, and for last chapter's title: I'm gonna use 'heaven' in chapter _eleven's _name, so that's why I didn't use it for seven.**

**SMALL CHANGE: For those of you who have already read this chapter, I made a small change at the end of it. I thought the 'Married' thing was dumb/weird, so I replaced it with something else.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Zoey**

Cold night air caressed my bare arms, and I shivered at it's icy touch. I glanced at my surroundings curiously, unable to see much because of the clouds covering the moon. As far as I could tell, I was on a small hill surrounded by a forest.

"Hello?" I called out into the empty night; a forlorn echo my only reply. I shivered again, this time not only because of the cold.

A light cracking sound came from the forest to my left, as of someone—or some_thing_—had stepped on a twig. I swallowed nervously, and took a small, tentative step in the opposite direction. A growl answered my movement, and I froze.

A few moments later, a dark form left the trees. It was well-built and lithe, and made no noise as it glided soundlessly over the ground. The glowing eyes of a predator stared back at me as I looked, their golden depths filled with a wild intelligence. I prepared to call the elements to me, when suddenly—in a whirl of color—the creature was beside me. I fell backwards in surprise, and it looked just at me. I quickly sat up, and sat face to face with a lynx. You know, those fluffy big cats with tufts on their ears and stuff. But instead of being the natural colors of a normal lynx, it was a swirl of wandering, liquidized colors—none mixing, and contained by a pelt of silver-lined hairs. The dangerous looking claws, sharp ears, and twitching nose were also defined with silver, and I immediately knew where I was.

The lynx butted me with it's soft head, and I was surprised at the unexpectedly solid and furry texture. By it's appearance, one would assume that it would feel squishy, like a balloon full of water. It turned away from me and flicked me with it's colorful tail as if to say, _Follow me! _I clumsily got up, and the animal started down the hill.

It looked back at me every so often, as if to make sure that I was still behind it. It guided me through the dark forest, which, even with my vampyric night vision, was hard to see in. I stumbled several times, but each time the beautiful feline was there beside me to prevent me from falling. I noticed in wonder that the animal shone with a subtle radiance, flinging different colors of light in each direction.

Finally, we reached the edge of the forest. I stepped out into the chilly night air, and the cool breeze wafted the fresh smell of lake water to me. The clouds had moved, and the bright, rather large full moon shone down onto the lake. Glints of it's light danced on the water's surface, throwing flickers at me and the cat. The light of the moon seemed to shine right on us, and I noticed a dim shimmer from the corner of my eye. I turned my head to look, only to find that it was my extended marks, which were becoming less and less obscure and now were almost completely back.

I felt as if I had called Spirit to me; I felt totally elated and almost high with pure happiness. Maybe Nyx _hadn't _abandoned me! The light wind surged, and blew my hair back behind me. I breathed in deeply, relishing in the sudden, swirling warmth surrounding me. I looked to my side for the lynx, but it was gone. In it's place stood a deer; a great buck that must have been a 24 pointer at the _least_. It seriously reminded me of Harry Potter's patronus, only instead of being just silver, it was an impressive array of bright colors with silver antlers and hooves, the same clever golden eyes, and with the current of colors contained by—once again—silver edged hairs. I wondered how old the creature must be to have so many points. And if it was male or female.

Another movement caught my eye, and when I turned to look, I saw a tiny—_familiar_—figure running towards me from about half a mile away. I turned back to the buck, cautiously reached out to touch it, and smiled when nothing happened but my fingers stroking it's coarse fur. I thanked it—as strange as it seemed—then turned and started sprinting towards Heath.

When we finally met, he crushed me in a desperate hug, and I tried to push him away to breathe but his grip was too strong. When he finally did let go, I was feeling slightly lightheaded and gasped for precious air. He muttered that he was sorry, and I just looked at him quizzically for a few moments, almost sure that there was something _really _important that I needed to tell him. However, I couldn't come up with anything, told him it was alright, and gave him another, _gentler , _hug.

"Zoey," Heath said after a few moments, his green, metallic words dissolving into the air. "What happened?"

I looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"I felt it," he declared. "I felt something happen to you, but I couldn't tell what. But it must have been something _really _big for me to feel it even though we aren't imprinted anymore."

I realized that he was right, and I tried to remember, but for the life of me, _I could not_. And then I wondered how he'd felt anything, anyways. We were no longer linked in any way that _I _was aware of, because our Imprint broke as soon as Kalona snapped Heath's neck. The thought of his death no longer pained me, because I knew that I would be able to see him again, although not when or how. But then _that_ brought up the question of will I ever see any of my friends again?

Even as I was thinking these things, something about that last sentence Heath had said disturbed a memory in my mind_. But it must have been something really big for me to feel it even though we aren't imprinted anymore…_ What _was _it?

…_Something really big for me to feel it even though we aren't imprinted anymore…_

And then it hit me. Something I had pushed to the back of my mind; the farthest depths and forgotten corners of my skull. I had heard of people forgetting distressing moments in their lives to protect themselves, but I never thought it would happen to _me. _I could feel my eyes water as I met Heath's gaze. He watched me expectantly, but I looked away. I slowly sank to my knees, the water in my eyes finally spilling over my lids and running down my face. Heath anxiously fell to the ground with me, trying to find out what was wrong. I looked up at him, into his concerned eyes.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, my purple words small and shaking.

"For what?"

"For…what I did."

"Zoey," Heath sighed uncertainly. "What happened?"

"S-something terrible," was all I could manage. I desperately wanted tell him, but the words just wouldn't come out. "I've ruined everything."

"Zoey, please," Heath begged.

"I…I imprinted with Kalona," I blurted out, bursting into tears all over again.

"Oh," he laughed nervously, "Is that all?"

I suddenly stopped crying and just stared up at him in disbelief. Was that _all? Was that all?! _And suddenly I was furious.

"Yes that's all!" I shouted angrily, an edge of hysteria even I could hear at the edge of my voice. "I've basically just _doomed_ the _entire world! _How will I destroy him now? How _can _I destroy him now? But _you_ wouldn't care that everyone could _die_, because you're already _dead_!"

I knew my words were vicious and uncalled for, and I regretted them the moment they left my mouth in a magenta-colored cloud. I didn't know what made me say it, and I clamped my jaw shut. Heath just looked down at the grass beneath us and muttered, "That's not what I meant."

"I'm sorry, Heath," I pleaded. "I don't know why I said that. I didn't mean it; I'm just really stressed out and scared for everybody and so _angry _at myself and—"

He stopped my flow of words by reaching up to my face and gently capturing my lips between his finger and thumb. I looked into his eyes, still feeling guilty, but also feeling better now that I had gotten that off my chest. He leaned forward and tenderly replaced his fingers with his lips. He kissed me softly and comfortingly, and I felt even worse for the words I would never get back.

"What I _should_ have said, was that and imprint is easily fixable." Heath murmured after we broke apart. I looked at him inquiringly and he brightly pointed to his neck. "You can just re-imprint with me."

I looked him doubtfully. "How do you know it'll work? We aren't really, _real_ anymore, you know?"

"So?" Heath rolled his eyes. "If it worked with that old man, it'll work with us. I mean, we've imprinted so much already, it's almost 100 percent, guaranteed!" He sounded like an infomercial when he said that, and I couldn't help but smile at his child-like confidence.

"Alright," I agreed, "But how do you expect to… cut yourself?"

"Jeez, make it sound like I'm emo. You can just bite me."

"Yeah, right."

"Or you could use your super-sharp chick nails."

"And _now _you're just being sexist."

"What else would we use?" Heath defended himself, before suddenly exclaiming, "Let's use a rock!"

"A rock?" I asked, amused.

Heath nodded as he eagerly rose to his feet and headed towards the lakeside. He started searching the ground for a sharp rock, and I stood up to…I don't really know. Because, in reality, what else _could _we use?

"A_ha!_" Heath yelled after a few moments of searching. He bent over and picked something up off of the ground and sprinted back over to me. In his hand, he held what looked like a stone that was halfway through it's transformation into an arrowhead.

His solution seemed so simple, and primitive. I was embarrassed by my earlier display—well, more like display_s_. I thought of myself as a pretty strong person, but I just broke down, crying, in defeat at a single incident. But then again, it was a very significant, world-effecting, people-could/will-frickin'-_die _incident, and I was very stressed. So stressed, in fact, that I couldn't even help myself from verbally attacking Heath, and I felt guilty all over again.

Heath tested the rock's serration on his finger, and a tiny drop of blood beaded there. He winced at first, but then smiled as he realized that it worked. He raised it to his throat, gave himself a shallow cut, and I thought ironically to myself, _He denies being emo, but he cuts himself over me a lot…_

I took a step towards him, and something in the back of my mind shouted, _No! _with such force that I faltered in my advance. Heath beckoned for me to keep going, but that voice made me wonder…if I _shouldn't_? I couldn't think of anything bad that could happen if I did this, so I started towards Heath yet again.

_NO!_ This time I completely halted. What was going on?

"Zo?" Heath asked.

"I—" Right then, a huge wave of emotion swept over me_._ I couldn't place exactly what it was, I only knew that there were several different ones. "Sorry, I got…distracted."

I quickly—before my mind could change itself—stepped forward and brought Heath's neck towards me. Before he even touched my lips, there was a terrible pinching in the back of my skull. I pulled away, grabbing the back of my head in the process.

The pain seemed to ebb away after a little bit, and I opened my eyes to see Heath staring at me worriedly. Again.

"Zoey, what's going on?"

"I-I don't know," I replied honestly. "Let's, uh, let's try again."

"'Kay."

He got closer to me, and I leaned forward tentatively, afraid of the pain. When nothing happened, I hastily brought his neck closer to me. Then suddenly the pain was back, this time worse and more crippling. I staggered backward clutching my head, and this time cried out with pain. As the pain faded again, I felt strong, athletic arms wrap themselves around me to prevent me from falling, and I weakly thanked Heath.

Then I got that familiar light-headed sensation that I usually get right before I drift somewhere else, but this time it felt just a bit different…like I was being _pulled…_

"Crap, Zoey!" Heath exclaimed and jumped back—probably afraid to touch me—as I began to slow in that sparkly, I'm-about-to-explode kinda way. But this time, it felt different.

It was so weird; like the pieces of me were moving really sluggishly, detaching from me slowly like a really viscous liquid, and then vanishing. My movements were slow and difficult, and I still felt as if I was being tugged backward into an abyss. Heath was saying something, but his voice was fading away, along with my vision. And then there was nothing.

Then I was standing on a beach, Kalona's big castle thing rising up only a few hundred meters away. I could feel his presence, and whipped around to meet his gaze. My heart leapt at the sight of him, but my rational mind abhorred his company. I disgusted myself, the way I felt towards him now. With the A-ya that was already in me, and plus our imprint, I think I _almost _loved him. Almost.

I crossed my arms and tried not to think about how much I wanted to run to him, to leap into his arms and spend the whole of eternity with my Kalona. I scowled at my own thoughts, and the way I had just thought of him as 'my Kalona'. This reminded me ironically of the song 'My Sherona'—which, by the way, is a great song except for the never-ending guitar solo. I mean, guitar solos themselves are fine, but that one just _never _ends!

Kalona stepped closer to me, and I leaned back a little. His eyes informed me that he was ecstatic to see me, but there was something more—something almost sinister and evil. It creeped me out, and this time, I actually stepped back. He casually closed the small distance between us and entrapped me with his great, black wings. I tried not to touch him, afraid I wouldn't be able to stop myself from doing something stupid if I did.

His hand suddenly tilted my chin towards his face, and I almost melted at his touch. His hand was warm, and caring, and the look in his eyes let me know that he loved me. But there was still that ominous flicker of malevolence.

"You tried to destroy our imprint," Kalona stated blandly, the hurt evident on his face. I was immediately sorry that I had ever tried to do such a thing.

"I'm sorry!"

I stood on my tip toes and threw my arms around his warm neck, hugging him passionately to prove the authenticity of my apology. His wings tightened around me and his arms brought me closer. When I pulled away, he drew my face close to his. His hot breath touched me for no more than a second before my mouth was locked with his, and he kissed me gently, caringly, and reminding me of a similar kiss I had shared with Heath. Heath…

I jumped back, hand to my mouth, in astonishment, and burning with embarrassment and anger directed at myself. What had come over me? I narrowed my eyes at Kalona and glared with all the power I had—I could all five elements stirring inside of me, wrestling, fighting to escape and release their wrath on this man—no, _monster_, standing before me. I hated him. I _loathed _him. And yet I loved him, and I knew I shouldn't, but I did all the same. I knew I should stay where I was, but I _wanted _to run back to him, and devote myself to him. Our imprint was more powerful than any I had ever had, or heard of, before. I had never felt this strongly towards Heath or Loren. It had to be destroyed, and soon; before I did something I would live to regret.

"I won't let you," Kalona hissed, his eyes dark.

"How can you stop me?" I retorted.

"I summoned you here. I will do it again. As long as it takes."

"You can't keep me here forever!"

"Would you like to bet?"

Fear ran through me, and our imprint informed me that he spoke the truth. It also let me know that he _caused _the terrible pain I had felt when I tired to Imprint with Heath. Half of me was hurt, the other enraged. I tired to fire back a nasty retort, but what came out instead was, "Why would you want to hurt me?" in a tiny voice. His anger was replaced with sorrow, and I knew that he had hated doing it, but he thought that he'd had to.

"I had to, or you would have destroyed us."

_There _is_ no us! I hate you! You're evil! _is what I _wanted_ to say, but what I really said was, "I don't think I actually could have done it."

I was enraged. How could he have this much control over me? Kalona met my gaze, his eyes caring.

"But how would I have known? You, my Zoey, are unpredictable."

I loved the way he said my name. I went to him, and kissed him again, this time more passionately, and subconsciously agreed with him. _I certainly _am _unpredictable, even to myself, _my subconscious thought with revulsion and I began sucking-face with my greatest enemy. It was almost like the rational me was on the sidelines, watching some love-sick idiot control my body. It was disgusting. Kalona started to make a move on me, but I slapped his hand away, and said playfully, "Not_ now!"_ and then the sane part of me practically passed out.

Not _now?! _

Oh, Goddess!

_

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**How did you like it? Tell me in a review. Or don't. Whatev. But a review would be greatly appreciated. **

**Have you ever written a fanfic and thought it was good, until you read it again a couple weeks/a month or two later and you're like, "Wow. That was awful." Yeah. Me too. With most of my fics. But I bet most people feel that way. As my idiot of an english tacher always says: The writing process is _never _done!**

**Oh, yeah. One of my buddies wants to know if vampyres can get pregnant. But I can't remember. It seems to me that I can't remember a lot of things. But then again, I am a very forgetful person. Maybe I should reread this series… **

**Your Pal, **

**ll SuperOreoMan ll**


	9. It's goin' fine in Chapter Nine! Well

**I'm back! Did everyone have a happy new year???**

**Thank you to all my faithfull reviewers! Guess what? Now I have 80 reviews and 8 chapters! That's ten a chapter, not counting this one.  
It's really not ten a chapter, it's more like 4, then 9, then 17, then 8, ect.**

**Oh, and for those of you who like Maximum Ride, I just started an HON/Maximum Ride Crossover. The summary sucks, but they don't give us much room, do they? And if you've never heard of Maximum Ride, you should read it, cuz it's good.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Stevie Rae**

_Bitter, overwhelming darkness was consuming her. An excrutiating burst of evil was fighting it's way into her body. No matter how hard she tried, how fiercely she resisted, it kept coming in dark waves of obscurity. Stevie Rae was twisting and tumbling through an endless abyss; alone. She tried to yell for help, but she couldn't speak for the crushing weight of the surrounding shadows. It pushed her to the deepest depths of her mind so she was rendered helpless. Flashes of dark wings and indistinct figures polluted her vision as she fell, deeper and deeper into the endless void._

"_Help!" she managed to choke out before sinking under once again. The assault was coming from one place, a place in her own head. Stevie Rae used all her red-vampyre strength to push against the thrashing current of hatred and violence, and still it wasn't enough. She strained every muscle in her body, mind, and soul, but the torrent of corruptive darkness was inescapable. When she could fight no longer, it flooded her mind, and devoured her spirit. She lay, shaking, in the empty chasm, tears leaking from her bodiless, wandering soul. It had ensnared her body and taken over her, and there was nothing she could do._

_Except fight. So she raised herself up, prepared to battle the surge that was certain to come. Even when she thought she couldn't endure a moment more, she struggled with the downpour of darkness and deceit until she was sure either she or it would be destroyed. And still she remained. She was weak and frail, but she remained._

* * *

Syevie Rae sat up in bed with a startled gasp. She clutched her thudding chest, and tried to ignore the strange, sinister feeling that she had. That was the second time she'd had that dream since they summoned Zoey and got Kramisha's poem and Aphrodite's vision two days ago. The first time had been the same, 'cept for the evil tryin' to seep into her mind wasn't quite as strong and fervent as in the second one. When she'd woken up from that one, she'd felt different, like it'd actually happened.

Both times, right after she'd woken up, she felt like darkness actually had a hold on her. Like it really was crushing her and extinguishing her humanity. But it always went away. And then she'd feel all back to normal; all except this one place in her mind. It was the place that she thought it was all comin' from, but she couldn't exactly pinpoint it. She was scared that it was gonna take over her, and she'd turn back into what she'd been before Zoey'd helped her to be a full red vamp.

And to make matters worse, she couldn't even talk to anybody about it. Damien, Jack, Shaunee and Erin were all nervous because Damien was starting to get a little cough. But Stevie Rae knew that he'd be fine—it was one of those red vamp things. And they were worried 'bout Zoey and tryin' to find hidden meanings in that poem of Kramisha's. Stark had totally shut down; he was guardin' Zoey's bed all the time, and not talkin' at all. To anybody. And Aphrodite—not that Stevie Rae would've confided in her, anyway—was always with Darius, or tryin' to have another vision or somethin'. The other person—well, _that_ certainly was debatable—that she would've talked to 'bout somethin' like this was Rephaim. Yet even he seemed to avoid her, and when they were together he was always busy doin' somethin' else. Stevie Rae thought he was hiding something, but she was't sure what. All she could get from him now was a steady flow of guilt and bitter animosity.

She got out of bed, her heart still hammering, and headed towards the 'kitchen'. She opened the mini-fridge, grabbed three bags of blood, and quickly drained them. What she _really _wanted was Rephaim's blood, but he wasn't there. As Stevie Rae got dressed, she suddenly wondered where the heck he could be. He'd been disappearing a lot lately, and she wondered where he went off to.

"Aw, _crap!" _Stevie Rae exclaimed, nearly falling as she tripped in her half-way on pants. She quickly pulled 'em up, threw on a shirt, ungraciously combed through her curly hair, brushed her teeth—'cause nobody likes blood-breath—and zipped right out the door. She swiftly dashed through the hallways, until she arrived at the doorway that she knew was the right one.

_Stupid, stupid, _stupid! Stevie Rae scolded herself angrily. There was only one place he could be, right? And it hadn't even crossed her mind. She didn't think he would betray her like that, what with their imprint and all, but then again, he _was _a demon bird thing that tried to kill a bunch of people,—includin' Zoey—and actually _did _kill professor Anastasia **(A/N: If I remember correctly…)**. Shoot, she'd forgotten about that! He didn't seem that bad, though...

She could hear some voices coming from the inside of the room, so Stevie Rae put her ear up to the door real quiet-like. She leaned into the door a little, and unconsciously placed her hand on the doorknob for support. She could hear Neferet and Kalona talking about something—no, some_one. _She heard her own name and leaned into the door, reflexively tightening her grip on the handle.

_Chweekeekeeeek._

Stevie Rae almost jumped outta her skin. She looked down, wondering what had made that crunchy screechin' noise. She released her destructive grip on the door handle, and looked at the shriveled up piece of scrap in it's place. _Whoops, _she thought guiltily. She pressed her ear back agaist the door, only to find that the talking had stopped.

_Go! You must _go! came Rephaim's urgent voice. From inside her head? How did he do that?

_Shoot! Shootshootshoot! _Stevie Rae thought in panic as she realized what he was saying.

She stepped away from the door and turned to run, but it was too late. She heard the door open, and suddenly it was really hard to move. It kinda felt like she was walking through cement that hadn't hardened yet, and Stevie Rae started to panic even more when she couldn't move at all. She was frozen, mid-step, in the middle of a deserted hallway.

Well, _almost _deserted…

"Perfect," Neferet purred as she approached Stevie Rae. "I thought I was going to have to get you myself. Nice job, Rephaim."

Guilt, shame and anger directed at Neferet burst into Stevie Rae's mind through her imprint with Rephaim. Stevie Rae's eyes widened at a snail's pace, and if she could have, she would have gasped aloud in shock. Because the place that connected her and Rephaim; that was where the darkness was coming from. That was the cause and reason she was feeling the darkness and evil take control of her all over again.

* * *

**Zoey **

I grumbled angrily at myself as I marched furiously up the hill. I wiped my sleeve heatedly across my mouth for the thousandth time since I'd arrived at this new place, wanting to get rid of _his _nasty touch. I'd been hoping for Heath's lake again, since it looked like the same dimension, or universe or whatever, but was somewhere even better; Grandma's lavender farm. I was climbing the hill that would lead out to her fields, and the calming scent of lavender had already eased my ferocity and self-loathing a notch. A _tiny _notch_. Mini_scule_._

As I broke the top of the hill, I had to cover my eyes because of the glaring sun. I fervently wished for some cloud cover, and a few moments later it was granted.

"Grandma? Are you here?" I called with my sparkly words towards the presumably empty fields. My shoulders sagged, and I leaned hopelessly against a tree. Just when things were looking up…

_Zoey…_

A familiar voice drew my attention back to the lavender fields. I started towards them to see who was calling me. But I think part of me already knew…

_Zoey._

I whirled around and saw an unbelievably beautiful woman with long, black hair standing there. A smile broke over my face as I realized who it was. Her full lips turned upwards with mine, and I quickly became serious and gave her the traditional salute.

_Zoey Redbird. I am very proud of you. _Nyx's words puffed into the air in a burst of creamy sparkles. I screwed up my eyes in confusion. She was…_proud _of me?

_Yes, _she continued, _You have done everything I had hoped._

"But, but I—"

_My daughter, it doesn't matter what things you _think_ you've done wrong, because you have, in fact, done them _right_._

"But I imprinted with Kalona," I blurted out. "And my marks disappeared." How could she say I was doing them _right?_

_But your marks are back, are they not?_

I looked down at my chest and shoulder to find that they were back; _completely _back! I was giddy with excitement; she hadn't cast me out! But then again, I should have figured that out when I first saw her…

"Yeah, they're back," I said solemnly.

_And you are now ready to return to your body. Your spirit has healed, and, in turn, become stronger._

"And that's why they disappeared? Because I wasn't ready yet?"

_Yes. _The great Goddess smiled warmly, and it reminded me of my mother's loving smile. Be_fore _she got married to the step-loser. _Now go back to your friends. They've been worried._

"Okay," I promised as she began to fade away. Then a thought struck me. "Wait! How?"

_Do what you think is right, Zoey Redbird…Follow your heart…_

Follow my heart? What did _that _mean?

And she never said anything about my imprint with Kalona...

* * *

**Stevie Rae**

Stevie Rae started awake again from that same old nightmare. This was the third night in a row. But this time it was different. It felt more final, more complete. And the nightmares didn't scare her anymore.

She raised herself out of bed, and headed eagerly to the kitchen. She was _starving. _She opened the mini-fridge, grabbed all eight bags of blood, and quickly chugged them all. Even after all that, she still felt a deep longing for it. She carelessly wiped her mouth on her sleeve, and scowled at the wasted blood left there. She wondered irritably where the heck Rephaim was. What she really wanted was _his _blood. But he'd dissappeared. _Again_.

When she was throwing away the depleted bags, she saw a note that had been shoved under her door. She picked it up, but carelessly got dressed and raked through her hair before reading it.

_Hey Stevie Rae,  
__Just wondering if you wanted to go out shopping with  
us tomorrow . We were hoping it would __get our  
minds off __stuff until we see Zoey again or something.  
__Let us know,  
__The Twins ←Dorkameδ  
__Aphrodite  
^Hag fron_

Stevie Rae glowered at the letter. _They_ certainly were getting along well. She could just imagine Aphrodite and the Twins fighting over a stupid pen to write crap about each other on this note. Her lip curled as she thought of their immaturity. But this note was from yesterday—why hadn't she gotten it before? And when she thought back on it, she couldn't remember much of yesterday; just looking for Rephaim in the morning, and heading to bed, exhausted. What had she done the rest of the day? Stevie Rae growled in frustration, and kicked a chair so hard that it snapped in half on impact. She glared at the splinters and fabric that had been a very comfortable chair, and stalked over to her purse. She roughly dumped it's contents onto a table and grabbed her phone.

She had a couple text messages, but she rolled her eyes and dialed Shaunee's number. She got steadily more furious as the line just kept ringing, and no one answered. She pulled it away from her in disgust, just about to snap it closed, when she heard Shaunee's voice say "Hello?"

"It's Stevie Rae. Just got your note. I'll come." She replied frostily.

"Okay, uh, great. We were just about to leave—you ready?" Shaunee spoke with confusion at her usually chipper friend's rigid tone.

"Yeah. Be right there."

Stevie Rae shut her phone with distaste. She suddenly didn't know if she wanted to go out. But, it would be nice to go out and shop. Because back at home, the stupid House of Night had gotten rid of a bunch of her stuff—who did they think they were?—and she hadn't packed much. So she grabbed her purse, shoved everything thoughtlessly into it, and started for the door.

Ugh, but she was still so _thirsty_. She should stop by a kitchen or something to pick up a few blood bags. She grimaced at the idea of the cold, nasty blood they served, and wished passionately that she could have Rephaim's blood, or some other form of warm, fresh blood. Her mouth watered at the thought, and longed for hot, fresh, _flowing_ blood. Then, a wry smile spread across her face as she walked down the hallways. Greece had a lot of people; certainly they wouldn't miss one tiny personel?

And suddenly, Stevie Rae was _delighted_ to go out.

* * *

**Dun Dun DUN!!!**

**What's gonna happen next??? **

**Oh wait, I KNOW!!!**

**Please review! It makes me happy XD**

**Your Pal,**

**ll SuperOreoMan ll**


	10. Barbie has Ken, and You have Chap 10!

**Hey guys! It's been a while! Sorry it's short, but I HAVE A PROBLEM!!!**

**I don't know if I've put a disclaimer in here yet, but just in case I haven't, ****I DO NOT OWN THE HOUSE OF NIGHT SERIES****. **

**I always forget those things.**

**I really hope I got this chapter right.**

**Oh, yeah; I just realized something. This whole time, I've been saying that they're in Greece, and NO ONE BOTHERED TO TELL ME!!! I got it wrong, wrong, WRONG!!! But isn't Kalona's little castle thing in Greece? Because I remember **_**something **_**being in Greece… I think…**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Zoey**

After Nyx disappeared, I waited to be transferred back to my body. When nothing happened after a while, I used Spirit to guide my own back to my body. But it didn't work. So I tried using all my other affinities to take me there, and that didn't work either. I tried using all the elements at the same time to take me. Still nothing. I wished with every molecule of my being. Zip. I cast a circle—kinda. I burned lavender instead of candles. It would seem that it would be even more effective, but still nothin'.

I sat down, legs crossed, in the middle of the field, breathed in the calming scent of Lavender, and looked deep into myself to find the way. You know, like Zen people do. When that didn't work, I even tried humming and connecting my thumb and middle fingers. Nada. I tried calling my body to _me. _It was a last resort, of course.

I sighed in defeat. How on earth—or, _not_ earth—was I supposed to do this?

Nyx had said to follow my heart…

Maybe I was supposed to try to…no idea. I thought about it, and began to think of all the people I loved. Maybe I was supposed to think of _them, _not of me.

So I thought about Stark. How he wanted to make me happy. His cocky smile that I just adored. His vulnerability when he thought I had died. His confession to me about his ability, and how I was one of the only people he'd told. How much he cared for his yellow lab, Duchess. How glad he was that he'd recovered and escaped from Neferet's control. How much I loved him.

I thought about the Twins. Sure, they could be shallow sometimes, but I could always count on them. I remembered how they'd always finish each other sentences. How they always knew what the other was thinking. How much fun it was to be with them. How much they fought with Damien over words they didn't know. How much I missed them.

I thought about Damien. His sweet, comforting smile. His deep understanding of my conflicting emotions. The way he got all teacher-like when he explained something to you. His great fashion sense. Him liking me for who I was on the inside, not my filled in mark. How much I wished he was here.

I thought about Jack. His child-like sweetness and everlasting optimism. The way all he wanted to do was help people. His cute innocence, and technological smarts. The way he was kind to everyone, and thought the best of them. What a great addition he was to our 'nerd herd'. How much I longed for his ever-joyful presence.

I thought about Stevie Rae. Her cute, bouncing curls, and cute Okie twang. Her always cheery attitude, and uplifting optimism. She and Jack could have been siblings for all their exuberance. How, even when she'd been stripped of her humanity, she could still become good. Her acquired wisdom and fierceness. The apologetic look on her face when she told me about the other red fledglings. She may hide a lot of things from me, but then I guess she was no different from me, was she? How much she meant to me.

I thought about Aphrodite. I now considered her a friend, even though she could really be a big jerk. Her rational thinking, and what a big help she was when everything was looking down. Thinking of her made me think of Darius. I hadn't known him that long, but he'd done so much to help us, and he was definitely on my list of buddies.

I thought about Heath. Sorrow washed over me as I thought about never seeing him again, which surely I wouldn't once I was back in my body. Several tears dripped down my face. I thought about all the time I'd spent with him, from our first kiss to our last. His sweet, loving hugs and comforting nature. His steady optimism, and willingness to do anything, for me. He was more than I deserved. So was Stark. _All _my friends, really. By then the tears were flowing steadily down my presumably red face.

And I thought about my Grandma Redbird. She'd been my shoulder to cry on ever since my mom got married to John. She'd listened to me whine, and always take my side. She'd shared her wisdom and Cherokee know-how to help me try and defeat Kalona. She was the reason I'd turned out to be the Priestess I was. I knew that she would never doubt my judgment, and always stand by my side, just like she always had.

I let my love for all my friends surround me and envelope me, and I soon felt lightheaded. I smiled as I began to glow, eager to get back to them. I dissolved and blew away in euphoria.

* * *

**Stevie Rae**

"Are you sure you're okay?" Erin asked Stevie Rae gently.

"Yes, I am _fine. _Now would y'all stop badgerin' me?" She replied in frustration.

They'd been doing this all morning! Well, night. Askin' if she _felt _okay, if she _need_ed anything. _Gosh dangit, I am just fine and dandy! _She wanted to scream. And her being thirsty didn't improve her mood, either. She kept tryin' to sneak away to go get just one little civilian snack, but they would never let her leave their sight.

"Well, go-olly! Is it that time of the month already?" Aphrodite sneered mockingly. But even she thought something was wrong with Stevie Rae.

Stevie Rae glared daggers at her, and Aphrodite actually took a step back, her eyes wide. Shaunee and Erin stopped gushin' over some butt-ugly boots to stare at her.

"What?" Stevie Rae snapped.

"Maybe we should go back," Shaunee began cautiously

"'Cause you don't seem like your normal self, Stevie Rae," Erin finished, putting her hand on Stevie Rae's shoulder.

She shrugged out from under Erin's hand and muttered "Yeah. I guess so."

Stevie Rae started heading back towards the Palace, her anger flaring up again. She could hear the Twins whispering about her as they followed Stevie Rae, and she growled in annoyance.

"Hey." Aphrodite was suddenly beside her.

"What?" Stevie Rae demanded.

"If you need to talk about anything, you can always tell me," Aphrodite said quietly. She seemed genuinely sincere. Stevie Rae looked at her for a couple moments, her anger subsiding, before looking quickly away.

There was so _much _she wanted to tell her. The darkness, the hunger, the _hatred…_ And as Sevie Rae thought about it, these feelings turned into dismay. She realized that she'd wanted to kill someone, some innocent person, to satisfy her wants. No, her _needs. _She'd felt the terrible _need _to kill someone.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Stevie Rae replied softly, feeling guilty and angry—this time, at herself. What was happening to her? She had so easily succumbed to the evil raging inside of her. And now that she was free of it, she could feel it trying to claim her once again. She fought valiantly, and as she did, Stevie Rae could hear her friends talking to her in urgent voices, but not what they said. She tried to shove the growing evil back into the fissure it'd seeped out of and plug it up.

A single message made it's way through her resistance, and floated across her mind.

_Zoey's imprinted with Kalona._

Stevie Rae froze with shock. Zoey had done _what? _

And that was all it took. In that split second where she'd let her guard down to bewilderment, the darkness had infiltrated her defenses once again.

As it gained control of her, Stevie Rae's lip curled in the beginnings of a sneer. So, Zoey'd imprinted with Kalona, huh? Her red vamp senses told her that it was true. Just wait until she told everybody…

"Stevie Rae!"

"Come on, snap out of it!"

"What's wrong?"

The voices of Shaunee, Erin, and Aphrodite suddenly registered in her mind. She opened her eyes to find herself standing stock-still in the middle of the sidewalk, with the Twins' worried faces in front of her.

"Get outta my face, I'm fine," Stevie Rae said earnestly.

"Yeah, and that's why you were frozen for, like, three minutes," Aphrodite said sarcastically, with a hint of true worry in her words.

"Well," Stevie Rae began deviously, "I found out somethin'."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, ever since I 'came a red vamp I just…know some things, ya know?"

"Oh," Shaunee and Erin said at the same time.

"We didn't."

"Well, I do. I knew what happened to Zoey 'fore I got the call, and I just know somethin' bad's happened with Zoey." Stevie Rae tried to hide her triumphant grin. Zoey was gonna get it now! Everyone'd _hate _her after this!

_Why do you want her own friends to hate her! _a tiny voice in Stevie Rae's contorted mind cried. She paused. She really had no explanation; she just had this strong hatred for Zoey brewin' inside her.

"Well?" Aphrodite asked impatiently, "What is it? What's happened to Zoey?"

"Not yet; I think everyone should hear this," Stevie Rae replied.

"Then let's hurry," Erin said as she quickened her pace.

* * *

"Zoey's _what?_" Stark shouted, his voice a mesh of variegated emotions.

"She's imprinted with Kalona," Stevie Rae repeated, doing her best to look upset.

"How _could _she?"

"What should we do?"

"What _can _we do?"

"We've got to help her!" Jack finally cried. Stevie Rae almost snickered at the complete _mess _they were all in. It was almost funny. Jack was in hysterics, Shaunee and Erin looked PO'd and hurt, Stark was a raging torrent of multiple emotions and was no longer speaking, Damien was just standing there, mouth gaping, Darius looked like he was trying to conceal his shock, and Aphrodite…well, she was doing a _very _good job of hiding what she was feeling and thinking.

Stevie Rae was having a hard time suppressing her own feelings. She was giddy with anticipation at what would happen next. She could feel that Zoey was close to returning to her body, and she just couldn't wait. Because when she did, Kalona would have even _more _control over her, and Zoey would help Neferet take over! Then of course, Zoey would have to die, in case Kalona's control faltered. Maybe Stevie Rae could do it…

_Those aren't your thoughts! _cried that familiar tiny voice in Stevie Rae's mind. She frowned. Who else's thoughts would they be? But her red vamp senses told her that it wasn't a lie. The little part of her got excited, and tried to say something, but it was soon whipped down by the darkness in her mind.

"Come on guys, pull it together. We've got to go to the hearing in ten minutes," Damien said wearily.

Stevie Rae pretended to be too upset to be there, and almost skipped back to her room. A plan made it's way into her head, from that one, single source. All she had to do was be there when Zoey woke up. Stevie Rae knew it was going to happen soon—she could feel it. Then she could take action. But something told her that the plan _couldn't _have been her own, because it involved someone else. She shrugged, and continued on her way.

Stevie Rae burst into her room, radiating anticipation, and bounced over to the mini fridge. She opened it to find that it had been filled with a bunch of new blood bags, at her request. She grabbed as much as she could, opened one, and drank it all. She shuddered. How she longed for fresh blood…

For the moment, she put it in the microwave for a bit, wondering if that would suffice. She pulled it out, tasted it, and shrugged. Not as good as fresh, but it'd do. She microwaved all the rest, and settled down into a chair. Though it wasn't as comfortable as the one she'd broken.

There was a tapping at the window, and Stevie Rae rolled her eyes before heaving herself up and heading towards it. She brusquely opened the window and stepped aside so Rephaim could come in. She glared at him, and felt a twinge of satisfaction when he winced.

"Where the heck do you go all day?" she demanded. Without waiting for an answer, she marched back to the chair, and the warmed blood bags. As he passed her, Stevie Rae saw him look at her sadly from the corner of her eye, and shake his head mournfully. He kept on walking, but Stevie Rae could _swear_ that she heard him whisper, _"What have I done?"_

* * *

**Get ready. The next chapter is gonna be…engaging. I hope.**

**I HAVE A PROBLEM!!!**

**BUT I CAN'T SAY WHAT IT IS CUZ IT'D GIVE AWAY PART OF THE STORY!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! *sigh* I'll work it out.**

**I'd just like to say a little something. There are over thirty people subscribed to this story, but I only get ≈10 reviews for every chapter. And they are mostly by the same, totally awesome people.**

**Just thought I'd mention that. Cuz I'm greedy when it comes to reviews. They're SUPER FUN TO GET!!!**

**Twenty seconds of life. I was even told that it took someone ten seconds, and another told me 1.34 seconds! (But they must be a **_**really **_**fast typist…)**

**Your Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**


	11. Heath is in Heavan, and V's in Eleven!

**It doesn't contain the level of awesomeness I was hoping for, but here's chapter eleven!**

**OMGG!!! Just saw Paranormal Activity—all I can say is Oh. My. Golly. **_**Gee!!!**_

* * *

**Zoey **

When I opened my eyes, I was blinded by a bright light. I covered my face with my hands, and slowly eased them open again.

"Well, hell," I muttered as I scrambled to my feet. I stumbled to the side of the great castle and looked out over the open sea. I sighed in defeat and dropped to the ground to sit, pulling my knees closer to me and wrapping my arms around my legs. I rested my head on my knees, and wondered why in wherever-the-heck-I-was I kept ending up _here_. I had totally thought that thinking of my friends would work, and yet here I was; back at Kalona's castle. **(HAHA!!! You guys thought she was goin' back, didn't you?! I sure got you good…)**

I heard careful footsteps approaching, but even before that I could feel his presence. My heart leapt, but that only made my overall mood worse. I sighed heavily into my legs.

"What do you want?" I asked harshly. I was _so _not in the mood for this crap.

"I want to help you," Kalona replied calmly.

I lifted my head to meet his eyes—I don't know what made me do it. My heart swelled as our gaze met, but I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

"Why would _you_ help _me_?" I asked scornfully. "What do _you _get out of it?"

"I would like you to help me in return." He stared intently into my eyes, and I quickly looked away.

"What can _I _do for _you_?" I shuddered at the way I worded it. The question sounded too intimate.

"Help me the way you helped Stark," he urged, kneeling down to meet my gaze again. I made the mistake of looking up, and was immediately lost in his eyes.

"I-I can't," I stammered, disorientated.

"But why? What's so different?" he demanded. "We were both once good, but turned evil. You saved him; why not me?"

I was mesmerized by his amber depths. _Snap out of it, Zoey! _I commanded. I blinked rapidly, then narrowed my eyes at him again.

"Because," I began with antipathy, "You _lied _to me—about _every_thing! I can't change _you_."

"I did not lie!" Kalona raised his voice indignantly. "I merely showed you only some of what happened." His eyes darkened. "I can show you the rest. If you'd like."

"If it's worth seeing," I muttered.

"I am not proud of it," he warned. He suddenly took my hand, and used his other to swipe across the sky. It rippled several times, and a familiar ripping filled the air as he once again began to show me his memories. The first was of him and Nyx standing together in what looked like a garden—a very _fancy_ garden.

_Please, my lady— _Kalona started to say. Nyx turned sadly away from him.

_I cannot. I already have a consort and love—Erebus. He is the one for me… I'm sorry._

She didn't look happy about breaking his heart, but she walked away from him anyway. Kalona was left behind, his head bent in sorrow.

A flurry of images flashed across the sky. All of Kalona trying to convince Nyx of his love for her, and Nyx apologetically turning him down. The barrage of scenes suddenly paused at one in particular. It was the unearthly beautiful Nyx and Kalona together in a forest. Kalona was once again trying to get her to love him.

_No, Kalona, I cann— _But she was stopped short with a terrible howl. A great knot of shadows was rapidly surrounding her, and Kalona had not even noticed until it struck. He pulled out his sword, and with a mixed look of horror and determination, he began fighting the disarray of evil. Even as he tried, I watched as Nyx's face became hollow, and then filled with something that looked so alien on her face; evil, hatred, darkness—and not the _usual_ darkness, an _evil _kind of darkness.

Kalona battled and battled the fierce downpour of shadows. In life, he must have been fighting for hours, but he somehow sped it up now without making it apparent. Talk about weird.

The obscure swirl lashed out at Kalona, and he cried out in pain upon contact, but continued with his struggle. The sound seemed to have drawn Erebus to him, for he soon appeared. He joined the fight for Nyx, and what must have been hours later, it finally receded back into the forest. Erebus held a trembling Nyx, while Kalona glared at them off to the side. He scowled and looked at the ground in angry jealousy.

Nyx suddenly yelled _No!_ and Kalona snapped his head towards her, sword at the ready. The shroud of evil had returned, but Erebus had done his job well, and kept Nyx safe. But now the darkness was directly attacking him.

Nyx's beautiful face twisted with fear. She stared at her beloved Erebus, who was being mercilessly attacked by the same contortion of shadows I'd seen Kalona battling in the memoir he'd shown me before. But this one was bigger, and transformed into fiercer creatures. A dragon that actually breathed fire, a huge tiger with blood dripping from it's fangs and claws, a shadowy figure that I could not name, but filled me with such fear just looking at it, and reminded me powerfully of the Grim Reaper. I stiffened, and Kalona tightened his grasp on my hand.

It was attacking Erebus, overwhelming him—it fought not like it wanted to kill him, but as if it wanted to control and permeate him. It swarmed like a hive of eternally infuriated bees around Erebus until he could not be seen anymore. I knew that the evil was starting to gain hold of him.

_Kalona! Please, help him! _Nyx begged, but Kalona just stared at the scuffle, a look of vengeful content spread across his face. He turned to Nyx and took her hands.

_But, my lady, when he's gone, we can be together!_

_What? No! _She yelled accusingly. _You would have let it get me! You were not doing your job; you risked the lives of my mortal children by letting your guard down! And now you've let it get Erebus, my love! _She threw his hands away from her, ran towards her consort, and tried using the elements to defend him. And still it was not enough. Kalona gripped his sword tightly, his knuckles white, before muttering, _For you, my lady, _and diving into the fray.

For a long time I couldn't see much, but after some time, Erebus and Kalona were free of the now retreating darkness. They were panting heavily from the effort, but didn't stop there. After they saw that the enemy was receding, Kalona instantly turned to Erebus and lifted his sword, again whispering _For you, my lady._ Erebus, naive of friendly fire, was caught unawares and Kalona's blade slashed his arm as he ducked away at the last minute.

_What are you doing? _Erebus asked angrily, clutching his bleeding bicep. Kalona ignored him and started swinging once again. This time Erebus was prepared, and brought up his own sword in defense. Their swords clashed angrily, and sparks flew as Kalona and Erebus battled.

_Stop! _Nyx ordered. Erebus did as his lady commanded, while Kalona continued with the onslaught. Erebus nimbly evaded the assault as Kalona's blows became more powerful and insistent, and his face distorted with cruel satisfaction.

Stop! Nyx demanded again, this time ringing with power, and giving more authority to her words. I started—it sounded much like my own voice when I used the special High Priestess tone, only perhaps more powerful. Kalona faltered, and came to a halt. The look of malice that had previously overrun Kalona's face melted away and he dropped his sword. Now his face was filled with shock, and he fell to the ground.

_I'm s-sorry Erebus—my lady; I don't know what came over me, _Kalona said in barely a whisper as he stared at the ground with wide eyes.

"I don't know what came over me," he murmured gently from next to me.

And then, with a flick of his wrist, Kalona scattered the memory. He stared off into the distance, not moving. I slipped my hand out of his, and stepped back.

"You…attacked him," I stated plainly. "For no reason."

He nodded slowly, before closing his eyes, leaning his head back and letting out a huge sigh. "I don't know why…" he repeated.

"What if you hadn't been able to save her," I demanded, "Because you were too infatuated to protect her? What if Erebus hadn't come?"

"I would have kept fighting—even if it took forever—until she was safe again."

I paused. "And you want me to help you?"

"Yes."

I looked at him warily. He said he could take me to my body, and I knew that it wasn't a lie. But he was evil. So I could let him help me, and try to help him become good—and I had my doubts—or I could wander around and try to find another way back. I was compelled to take this offer, if not for the imprint we shared, then for the need to get back. I was conflicted with what to do. And then Nyx's words floated back into my head: _Do what you think is right, Zoey Rebird...Follow your heart..._ I suddenly knew what it meant. I _knew _that he was telling the truth, and my heart was definately telling me to let him take me back, even if it was just te imprint telling me so. But was this the way _Nyx _had wanted me to get back? I wasn't so sure, but.. I thought it was right. He simply looked at me and said "I will help you."

I unintentionally looked into his eyes once again, and found myself softly saying "Okay."

He smiled at me, seeming so different than the times when he was truly evil. It was almost like he was an entirely different person. I subtly noticed that we were both beginning to shine as Kalona stepped closer to me.

"Do you trust me?" he asked as he held out his glowing hand to me.

"Yes," I whispered, taking it.

He swept his vast wings around me, encasing us in his dark embrace. I became dizzy when he pressed me closer to him. As we began to shine more brilliantly, I looked up at him, and he down at me. He slowly brought his lips to mine, and the instant they touched, I could feel myself shatter into a billion sparkling fragments.

It was the same as when I was usually floating through nothingness, but somehow different. I could constantly feel Kalona's presence beside me, his wings and warm hands keeping me in his strong embrace, and it just seemed right. Although there was no way to judge time in this state I was in, the journey still seemed shorter than all my other wanderings.

And, as usual, we were suddenly in the room I'd been in before when Damien, the Twins, Stevie Rae, and Aphrodite had summoned me. But as I examined my surroundings, I saw that the room was dark and empty. Kalona still had my hands in his, and he promptly dropped them after our arrival.

"Thanks," I mumbled uncomfortably.

"Anything for you," Kalona said with a smile. Then his face became thoughtful and serious. "When I first made this imprint with you, I did it out of desire; for you—or perhaps more accurately, A-ya—and for the power you hold." He stopped and just looked at me, as if to judge my reaction, before continuing. I did my best to keep a straight face. "But now, I believe it has become something more."

_Tell me about it, _I thought with an internal sigh. I didn't know _what _to think anymore. I knew Kalona was evil, but now something had me thinking that he could be changed, just as Stevie Rae, Stark, and the other red fledglings had been.

_But he killed Heath, _a little part of me argued, _and he planned on killing more. _Which was an extremely good point.

_Yeah, well Stevie Rae and all the red fledglings killed people before _they _turned good, _a different part retorted. Which was _also _a good point. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples; this was all just so confusing. I really needed to talk to my buddies more than ever.

_But how will they react to our imprint?_ My eyes shot opened. I hadn't even thought of that. It's not like I was _keeping _it from them, but they'd probably still feel betrayed. I scowled; I certainly would. How could I have let this happen?

I felt Kalona take one of my hands again. I looked at him, and my indecision washed away as he gazed back at me.

"Yeah," I muttered, finally answering his unspoken question. He smiled at me again, looking more human and truly happy than I've ever seen him before. He held out his arms, and asked "May I?" I automatically knew what he meant, and nodded.

I stared into his eyes as he gently lifted me into his arms bridal style. He swiftly and silently carried me over to where my empty body lay. I could hear my gentle breathing as we approached. He paused beside the bed and shifted me in his arms to look at him easier. We stared into each other's eyes for a moment, before he slowly lowered his head; closer, and closer…

Our lips met, but I did not shy away. It was tender, and soft, and he didn't push his luck. When we parted, my head was spinning from lack of oxygen, and maybe a little something else. He bent over and held me—well, I guess my spirit—over my lifeless body. He slowly and carefully lowered me into…well, me. I almost gasped as he did so—My spiritual self was sort of being absorbed by my body, and as I slipped into it, a warm yet icy, sharp, tingly feeling overcame me. The second I was completely bonded, the world spun around me, and I fell into a sleeplike state.

* * *

When I first woke up, I kept my eyelids closed for a moment and just listened. I didn't hear any sounds or movement, and wondered what time it was. My eyelids fluttered open, and I took a sharp intake of breath at how…_real_ it felt. The room was dark, lit by a single candle flickering happily beside my bed. I glanced around the empty room, but what I was looking for I didn't know. I pulled the sheet over me a little more because I was cold, and it made a muted rustling noise.

I jumped in alarm when the rustling continued even after I stopped moving. It was coming from a shadowy corner. The corner was completely dark, and all I could see were blood-red eyes glinting in the soft glow of candlelight. The menacing, yet familiar, eyes moved upward, and came towards me and into a lone candle's gentle light so I could finally see all of her.

Remarkably, I wasn't the least bit tired, so I sat up in my bed and watched her. There was something different about my good friend, but I just couldn't place it. Maybe it was the way she moved—it was more fluid, catlike and wild than I'd remembered. Or maybe it was the look on her face—it was completely void of emotion, but held something more sinister within. I smiled tentatively at her as she stood beside my bed and looked back at me with no emotion.

"Hey," I began hesitantly, "Long time, no see." Her blank expression finally changed, but it wasn't what I'd been hoping to see.

"Cut the crap, Zoey, we all know what you did," Stevie Rae spat, her face contorted into a mask of fierce disgust. I leaned back and flinched—her words seemed strong enough to physically score through me.

"What do you mean?" I asked in barely a whisper. How had they found out?

"Your little imprint with _Kalona_," Stevie Rae said with disgust. "Thought we wouldn't find out? Huh?"

"Stevie Rae, please," I urged, "It was an _accident._ I _never_ would have done that on—"

"Well, guess what?" She paused for a moment, as if listening for something. "You messed everything up, Zoey."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, and all my guilt and remorse flooded back into me, seeming stronger than ever before. I _had _ruined everything…

"How can we defeat him now? With _you_," Stevie Rae snarled, "Helpin' him, he'll be dang near impossible to defeat!"

"I wouldn't—I didn't _mean_—" I started, my eyes beginning to burn in the beginnings of tears.

"Yeah, ya didn't _mean _to doom the whole dang world!"

I couldn't even speak—the tears had spilled over and ran down my cheeks in a race to see who could escape my presence the fastest. I had thought, of all my friends, Stevie Rae would be the most understanding. But no, she was _furious_ at me. If _she _was this mad, what were the others like? As if reading my thoughts, Stevie Rae continued angrily.

"The others want nuthin' to do with you, now," she glared at me with her bloody eyes, and they seemed to rip right through me. "I was the only one who would stay to talk to you. They're all off tryin' to get somethin' _done_, since you screwed it all up."

"They want nothing to do with me?" I asked in a small voice.

"Nope. I'm havin' a hard time restrainin' myself right now. Zoey, do you know how much this'll cost us…" Stevie Rae fell back into the closest chair, her temper gone. She sighed, ran her hand through her hair, and closed her eyes as if in defeat. "Zoey…I don't know what we're gonna do now…"

"I could—"

"_No!_" she yelled with such force that it rang in my ears for several seconds. She gave me the death glare, and hissed, "_You've. Done. Enough._ Just…_go_."

She turned away from me, and I sat where I was in shock. Finally, I slowly got to my feet and silently walked out the door; the tears still falling. I had no idea where I was, and I only had a hospital gown on, but I held it closed and kept on going. My bare feet made a light smacking sound against the hard tile floor as my pace quickened. I wasn't quite running, but I was speed-walking out of there as fast as I could. I flew down several flights of stairs, my unused body creaking in protest, and exited from the first door I saw.

I just walked into the chilly night, not caring where I was headed. I needed to think. I bit my cheek to stop myself from crying any harder, and it sort of worked. The cool grass caressed my aching feet, and I had the urge to sit down. When all you've been doing for a week—according to the calendar in the room I'd woken up in—is laying in bed, breathing, and you suddenly decide to go out for a jog, your body tends to complain.

I realized that I'd wandered to the scene of Heath's death, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't control the tears that flooded my face. I bit down until I bled, and I spat out a large gob of nasty. I sat down in the grass, and put my head in my hands. Heath's death hurt more than ever, because now that I was in this body, I wouldn't see him again. And now I had to deal with my friends, Kalona, Stevie Rae…_Stark…_

I suddenly felt someone watching me. I quickly scanned the area around me, but found nothing that made my vampyre senses tingle. I slowly got to my feet, still looking around warily. I heard a twig snap to my left, and I almost jumped out of my skin—which is no fun, I can tell you from experience. I saw a shadowy figure approaching me, but even with my vamp-enhanced night vision, I couldn't tell who it was. It raised it's arm towards me, and that's when I chose to run. My legs pumped harder than they probably should have after so long without use, and my vamp senses were finally going off. Something in me screamed to _Get the heck outta there! _The figure had been practically radiating pure evil. It was one of the scariest thing I had ever felt—almost like just by standing in it's presence, it could strip you of your righteousness.

All of a sudden, it was really hard to move. It felt like instead of running in the cool, night air, I was swimming through hardening glue. I struggled ferociously and tried to call out for help, but couldn't make any sound come out. Soon I couldn't move at all either, and I was frozen in the middle of taking a step. If my eyes could have widened in fear they would have, but as it was, I couldn't move anything but my chest—to breathe—and my eyeballs. And even so, it was getting harder and harder to breathe…It was taking longer to catch a single breath…I was getting lightheaded from lack of oxygen…The world was whirling around me…

And then I spun out of consciousness.

* * *

**Ahh, don't we all just **_**love **_**the classic 'and then everything went black' ending for a chapter? Yeah...Sorry about this, but…it's my story. And I wanted you guys to wonder…**

**Please tell me what you think of this chapter. Review, review!**

**Well, I must be off. I've been hearing my cat outside growling/meowing menacingly at another cat, but I haven't been able to find them yet. So off I go! I'm bringing a shovel, just in case the other cat is evil...**

**Your Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**


	12. There's nothing to helve, so I wrote 12

**I've been struck with inspiration! Yipee!**

**But it was sooo hard to write this chapter cuz it's so **_**boring **_**in comparison with what's to come… (at least to me, anyway…) It's definately not my best chapter.**

**A BIG thanks to everyone who reviewed!!! You're what keeps me goin'! Thanks to MichaelJacksonScaresMe, Cythia, HeartTheCullens, ****KwopKilawtley****,****heatherkw, Tigerlilysmile, trish6911, vampluver19, kriki16, Cierra Hill-Thomas, and Guest for reviewing! You guys are the best!!! (so's everyone else who's reviewed this story in the past, I just suddenly decided to thank all the people who reviewed chapter 11!)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Stevie Rae  
****(p.s., I gave up on the accent—you know, **_**doin'**_**, **_**thinkin'**_**, **_**y'all**_**, ect—stuff…it was pretty dumb anyway)**

A sinister smile darkened Stevie Rae's face as she watched her former friend leave the room. Zoey was so _gullible! _Stevie Rae has actually made her believe that everyone hated her. Yeah, right. Stevie Rae's face contorted into a scowl. _Everyone _loves Zoey. Any boy that crosses her path falls hopelessly under her spell; even the idiot professor who was _supposed_ to be faking it, Loren Blake. But Zoey would _never _get Kalona.

_Kalona is _mine, _all mine— _Stevie Rae thought possessively, before shaking her head rapidly to snap out of it. She didn't want _Kalona, _he was like a bazillion years old! She shuddered. Lately, strange thoughts had been making their way into Stevie Rae's head, and it was disturing her. Part of herbelieved that they weren't her thoughts, but the other part didn't know who else's thoughts they could be.

She sat in the darkness of the empty room until she felt a little twinge that meant her plan had worked. She glanced at the clock, only to find that Damien, Jack, Stark, Aphrodite, the Twins, and Darius would be back at any moment. She sat back and waited for them to come, leaning into a chair and crossing her arms. Only a few minutes later, Stevie Rae could hear the group approaching the room, ad the lights flicked on as they filed inside.

"Yeah, he didn't even have the decency to show his stupid, lying—" Shaunee was telling Erin in disgust as the group entered the almost empty room, before coming to a stunned halt at the sight before her.

"_Zoey!" _Stark cried in horror when he saw the empty bed. He turned his frenzied eyes to Stevie Rae. "Where is she? Did you see her?"

"She got up, apologized, and left," Stevie Rae explained, appearing crestfallen. "I don't know where she went." **(† Here lies the end of my inspiration. It's awfully sad, dontcha think? But I came back and continued later…)**

Stark let out a strangled cry, obviously feeling like he'd let down his lady once again. Damien patted him comfortingly on the shoulder, and told him that she wouldn't have gone far. Shaunee and Erin looked at each other frantically, as if searching for the answer on the other's face. Stevie Rae yawned sadly, suddenly tired, but froze with her mouth wide open when she saw Aphrodite's icy gaze probing her mercilessly.

"Shouldn't we look for her?" Jack interrupted the cold silence that had taken over the room. Stark's face hardened with a new determination, and he nodded stiffly.

"Yeah. Definitely. Um, Shaunee, Erin you search the, uh, the dining hall. Maybe she was just hungry…" Stark sounded like he was trying to convince himself rather than them. "Darius and…Aphrodite, can you go search the grounds? And Damien and Jack, you go…go search the upper floors. I'll search the bottom."

"What about me?" Stevie Rae asked, narrowing her eyes. She had to at least _pretend _like she cared…

"Can you stay here, in case she comes back?" Stark's eyes held such agony, fear, confusion and pleading that Stevie Rae's heart cried out for him, and she hardly gave a thought to her answer; "Of course."

"Can you try to sense where she is through your warriors bond?" Darius asked suddenly. Stevie Rae's swell of compassion was swept away at his words. If they found Zoey, Neferet's plan would fail!

_Whose plan? _Stevie Rae thought with uncertainty, before sudden anger flared up in her. _It was _mine! _Not Neferet's!_

"Yeah." Stark closed his eyes and spoke quietly as he tried to find his lady.

No! He _couldn't _find her! It would ruin everything, every carefully thought out detail would be for nothing if—

"I-I'm not getting anything. Not a single emotion, thought, _nothing,_" Stark interrupted Stevie Rae's hectic thoughts in barely a whisper.

"_What?_" Damien hissed. "That's not possible."

"What does it mean…?" Erin murmured to Darius, seeing as he would know the most about warrior bonds.

"What if it's not even _Zoey_?" Jack put in, a look of horror on his face. Stevie Rae rolled her eyes—he was sweet, but he was so dang dramatic!

"It was definitely Zoey," Stevie Rae argued, real confusion coloring her face. She _knew _it was Zoey. It's not that Stevie Rae _wanted_ Stark to find her, but why wasn't he? Had something gone wrong?

"Then why can't I _feel _her?" Stark demanded angrily.

"What if your bond broke when Zoey's soul shattered?" Aphrodite asked slowly.

"Can that happen?" Stark inquired frantically, his eyes darting to meet Darius' gaze. The large warrior merely shrugged and let out a long sigh.

"It's impossible to tell. I've never before heard of a vampyre's soul shattering."

The room was totally silent. Stevie Rae wished she had a pin, so she could drop it. She shifted uneasily, imagining different scenes of how her ingenious plan could have gone wrong. She would have to check later to make sure it hadn't.

"Well, I guess all we can do right now is search for her," Damien sighed. He motioned for Jack to follow him as he silently left the room, with Darius, Aphrodite, Shaunee and Erin close behind. Stark took one last look at Zoey's empty bed before heading towards the door with his head down.

"Wait!" Stevie Rae cried, grabbing for his wrist before he could leave.

Stark looked at her in bewilderment, and Stevie Rae was suddenly unsure of what to say. Why had she made him stop? A little voice in her mind shouted, _Tell him! Tell him where she is! _Her eyes narrowed, and Stevie Rae shot back, _Heck no! It'd ruin everything. _She felt a familiar flood of darkness, and the disagreeable voice was easily extinguished.

She realized that she was still clutching Stark's wrist, and immediately let go. He was still looking at her with mystification.

"Um, I just wanted to know how the...how the hearing went," Stevie Rae saved herself quickly, relieved that she'd come up with something good. Stark's expression became tired, and he suddenly looked older than any vamp Stevie Rae had seen.

"Well, Kalona decided not to show up," Stark explained, "And since Zoey wasn't there, no one really took our side seriously. We tried to explain that Kalona had killed her consort which shattered her soul, but none of them believed us until we proved to them that we had shipped Heath's lifeless body back to his parents in the US. And even then, we only got two—_maybe _three—of them on our side.

"Neferet looked kind of POd at the beginning of the hearing, but she left about halfway through. With no one on the opposite side to contradict us, we tried to convince them—even showed them pictures Erin took with her camera of Zoey laying lifeless and without any of her marks. And still they blew us off. Well, _most _of them." Stark concluded quietly, before adding, "Kalona has the High Council under the same spell as the students and teachers of the House of Night, but unfortunately, it looks like only a couple of the High Council members chose good."

"So they still don't believeus?" Stevie Rae asked, her face emotionless.

"Yup," Stark popped the 'p' with a look of sadness and anger clouding his face that didn't match the happy sound.

And Stevie Rae was suddenly unsure which side she was on.

* * *

**Zoey**

I gasped out in pain as the harsh fabric rubbed my already raw wrists. I squirmed ineffectively against my restraints in the cold, darkness of wherever I was. My whole body felt battered, as if I had been kicked around violently, and then run over by a herd of vengeful elephants. The cold floor I was laying on felt good on my throbbing body, the smooth texture reminding me of the basement floor of the house I'd lived in before the House of Night—the step-loser's house.

I groaned as I tried to sit up and a wave of nausea overcame me, and pain started pounding ruthlessly through my skull. I wanted to stand up and find out where the heck I was, but my ankles and wrists were bound together with a very coarse, chafing material. There was a similar material over my mouth. It was bulky, and made it hard to breathe, so I tried to shift it's positioning with my shoulder, since my arms were trapped behind me. I whimpered as the fabric grated against the already sore skin around my mouth, and wondered how long I must've been down here to be so sore already.

Down here. Somehow I knew I was underground. I couldn't see in the blatant darkness surrounding me, but it felt sort of like the tunnels back in Tulsa. But how did I know I _wasn't _back in Tulsa? For all I knew, I could be in Antarctica. I shivered; it certainly was cold enough to be.

I poked around with my feet to find a wall, or _some_thing, when the wave of nausea had almost gone and my headache had settled for a dull, steady pounding. My bare foot came into contact with a hard, stony surface that I took to be a wall. I scooted myself closer to it, and, using my feet to push up and my hands to guide my ascent, I slowly rose to the standing position. And then I was stuck—my legs were bound together so tightly that no matter how hard I tried, I could not escape the terrible cloth tied around my ankles.

I sighed in frustration through my gag, when an idea hit me. I wished I could have smacked myself for my own idiocy. I called Fire to me, and asked it very nicely to burn through my restraints. It's comforting heat enveloped me, and there was an especially big tingle in the areas covered by the brutal material, but nothing other than that seemed to happen. I tugged at the binding fabric, but it didn't fall away as ashes like I'd expected. I wondered if perhaps the element didn't understand my muffled voice. Carefully, I used my shoulder once again to prod the stubborn gag out of the way. After a few minutes of pain, I got it free. I moved my mouth around a bit, wincing at it's sensitivity, before speaking.

"Fire, help me burn away this restraining fabric so that I may be free to do as I please, since the great goddess, Nyx has granted Free Will to all of her children!" I declared in my powerful High Priestess voice. Once again, I felt the same warmth and extra tingles, but when I moved my hands, the fabric was still holding me in place. Fear began to gnaw at me, but I kept trying.

"Wind, use your mighty strength to get this fabric off me! Water, with your mighty currents, help me get rid of my restraints! Fire, help me turn this horrid fabric to ashes! Earth, use your sharpest stones and roughest rocks to free me from these restraints! And Spirit," I paused, wondering what I could say. Then an idea struck me. "Spirit, tell my friends that I'm alright, and tell them where I am!"

I felt a warm gust of wind bluster around me, causing my hair and hospital gown to blow around—luckily, I was wearing something under it—and it almost felt like I _was_ Wind. I smelled the fresh scent of the ocean, and felt as if I was part of it, with the current tossing me gently this way and that. A strong warmth washed over me once again, and I heard the crackle of fire, almost like it was coming from me. My ears and nose were met with the sounds and smells of a meadow, and it felt not as if I was _standing_ _in_ soft grass, but as if I _was _the soft grass. And yet with Earth, came a strange smell of something burning. I wrinkled my nose, and wondered what had caused that to happen, but as soon as it had begun, the smell was gone. I felt suddenly optimistic and giddy with pure spiritual fullness, and I could feel it as Spirit wandered away from me to warn my friends. My skin under the rough fabric began to tingle like crazy, and I hoped desperately that this would work.

With each element's familiarity, came a glow that was directly linked with the element's candle color. Yellow, blue, red, green and purple shimmered around me, but didn't mix to make a disgusting brown color. I marveled at each separate glimmer, all intertwined with the others in a beautiful aurora of brilliance. I took a swift look at the room around me; it was pretty much a small, ancient basement with no windows and one door. I was confident when I pulled lightly on my restraints. My confidence faltered when they—yet again—did _not _fall way. I narrowed my eyes, and pulled harder, and nothing happened except the burning of the cruel material against my skin.

My head snapped up in fear when I felt Spirit rejoin with me. It couldn't have gotten there and back _that _fast! I sent it again, this time keeping my eye on the purple glow that reminded me of my words in the 'Otherworld'. It floated gaily away from me, bounced off what must havebeen a wall, and happily returned to the other elemental glows. I stared at it, my fear escalating. Why couldn't it go to them? I tried to send it; again, and again, and again, to no avail. Each time it came and went, I was reminded more and more of my time in the Otherworld.

Finally, I gave up. I shakily sank back down the wall into a sitting position, and thanked the elements for at least trying. Tears welled up in my eyes, and without the soft glow of the elements, the dark room I was confined to seemed more menacing than ever. I shifted uncomfortably, my arms being stuck in a very painful position. I started to cry as I thanked the last element, Spirit, and had to watch it's soft, purple shimmer disappear. It reminded me more than ever of my words in the Otherworld, and my time with Heath. The last time I would ever spend with him, and it was all my fault. I _never _should have let him come to Italy. I let my body gently fall sideways so I was laying down.

"Oh, Heath," I whispered into the empty darkness. "I'm so, so sorry."

I cried harder and harder as I remembered and thought more and more about Heath. I remembered the life I'd had with him—before, _and _after I'd been marked. He's always been there for me—even when I didn't necessarily _want _him to be. And now he was gone, all because of me. I wondered if they've told his parents yet?

I eventually calmed myself down, and started distracting myself by furiously pulling at the cloth binding me. My wrists soon started to bleed with all my struggling, but I ignored the pain in a feeble attempt to free myself. Every once in a while, I'd try to send Spirit again, except only concentrating on one individual; Stark.

_But what if he's ignoring our bond because he's so upset about my imprint with Kalona? _I winced at this thought. Stevie Rae had said that they wanted nothing to do with me, but I had thought it would be different with Stark.

I tiredly watched the purple light glide through the air, only to bounce right back to me. Sending Spirit so many times was really taking a toll on me; my entire body was stiff, I was shivering violently—and the cold didn't help my condition. I called Fire to me to warm up, but it took almost everything I had left. I swear I was literally seeing stars when I felt the warmth, until I looked down at my body and realized that it was me. My skin was glowing with a flickering whirl of orangey-yellow colors.

I gasped in wonder at this strange new occurrence. My skin was flashing and dancing as if it had become Fire. Along with the warmth, came a surge of awareness, and I knew what I had to do. I had to act fast, before the attentive state I was in wore off.

"Spirit, one last time," I called almost inaudibly.

I felt it surround and strengthen me, and I returned it's power along with the energy Fire had renewed in me. I used every last bit that I could, even though I knew I would mostlikely end up unconscious. I filled Spirit with all the power I could muster, and all at once, I threw it harder than ever before, along with a message for Stark. Combined, they passed right through the wall and onward to my warrior—or so I hoped. I fell back to the ground in exhaustion, not having realized that I had sat up during the process.

_"Stark, help me..." _I murmured airily, just for good measure, before I passed out.

* * *

**I'm sorry! It's another 'unconscious' end to a chapter! Gosh, I _hate_ those...**

**I don't like writing emotional stuff. I do it when I have to, but** **I'm more of an intense-action/awesomeness kinda gal. So forgive me if you didn't think there was enough of that.**

**But it _will_ get better, I promise.**

**I'm having less and less time to write these days. Would you guys rather have me update with  
_short_ chapters _more_ often, or _long_ chapters _less_ often?**

**Remember to review!**

**Your Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**


	13. Someone gets mean in Chapter 13!

**Hey, what up, ma homies! It's been awhile! I'd apologize, but I didn't get that many reviews, which did not motivate me. :'(  
And as an added bonus, I didn't exactly know how to write this chapter.**

**Everyone who gave their opinion told me they'd rather have me update more with shorter chapters, so it's short. For **_**me**_**.**

**Thanks to MichaelJacksonScaresMe, Stark's NO1 Girl, KwopKilawtley, Chocoville, Topeka13, Tigerlilysmile, and HeartTheCullens *coughgoreadherstorycough* for reviewing!!! **

**I only got seven. This disappoints me :(**

**Oh my gosh!!! I just saw Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs!! It was soooo funny when the dad is all like, "Son, can you look me in the eye and tell me nothing is gonna go wrong?" (or something to that effect), and I'm like, "Teehee, no, you don't HAVE any eyes…" ya know, cuz he's only got one **_**ginormous**_** eyebrow. But **_**then**_**, THE EYEBROW MOVES UP AND IT WAS SO FLIP FLOPPIN' **_**HILARIOUS**_** I ALMOST DIED LAUGHING!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Stark**

He _knew _she was here; he could feel it.

But Zoey was absolutely nowhere to be found.

Stark let out a roar of frustration, and took an angry swipe at a bed of tulips nearby, causing the quickly healing scar on his chest to stretch painfully. He had finally felt something from Zoey, as if she'd sent it with Spirit, and he immediately used his newly discovered speed that he'd gotten after becoming Zoey's warrior to get to where it was coming from as fast as he possibly could.

But when he'd arrived, all he'd found was the back wall of the palace, a small garden by the wall, and a koi pond with a little bridge going over it a few yards away. Stark paced furiously this way and that, trying to think of some way to find her, all the while throwing livid glares at the colorful fish as he stomped past.

Right now all he wanted was Zoey. He _needed _her. Heck, _everybody _needed her. He could drink from her, he would heal to be able to protect her more efficiently, and her imprint with Kalona would be broken. Everything would be great. Stark wished he could go back in time and just drink from her when she'd first asked him to, back in Tulsa. If he'd done that, he'd be stronger, and could have gotten to her quicker a week ago when she needed him. Although she would have been weaker, but maybe they would have had to delay the trip, if even by only a few hours. If they'd left just a _little_ later, none of this would have happened; Heath wouldn't have gone outside when he did, wouldn't have died, and then Zoey wouldn't have tried to save him and shattered her soul. Or Stark could have stayed with her, like he should have been.

It was one of those horrible times where you wished you had done just _one thing _different to change the outcome of everything.

"Oh, Zoey," Stark whispered into the first light of dawn, his skin beginning to itch with a light burning sensation that was his warning to get inside, _fast_.

He turned, defeated, to head back inside, when a burst of wind blew his long hair into his eyes and made the bow and pack of arrows strapped to his back sway gently. And as if the wind had carried it to him, Stark suddenly had an idea. He headed back towards the wall, glancing at the approaching dawn and realizing he'd have to do this fast. After hastily grabbing his bow, Stark reached back for an arrow, apprehension making him clumsy. When he finally had the long projectile in his hand, he started to set his bow, before swiftly changing his mind. Removing it from the bow, he, with a wince, snapped the arrowhead off the end.

Stark looked warily at the sharp, fractured plastic that was now the end of his arrow, and would probably cause more damage to anyone it hit than if he'd just left on the head. He checked the sky again, suddenly knowing that the sun would rise in four minutes, and then he'd be cooked. Literally. He searched frantically around him for something to make it _less_ dangerous, but all he found was a rock. Thinking quickly, he grabbed it and started rubbing the sharp end of the arrow's shaft against it, in the hopes of smoothing it to something safer. After one fruitless minute of grinding, it was still stubbornly sharp.

Stark sighed anxiously, looking at the sky once again, but didn't give up. Another idea struck him—a much _smarter _idea. He reached down and ripped a piece of his shirt off, folded it into a thick, layered square and shoved it on top of the shaft. His hands shook with nervousness as he took a piece of twine from his pack, and tied the thick square of fabric around the arrow's dangerous end. He approvingly admired his handiwork, just as the little itch of a burn became a _big_ itch of a burn. He had a little less than two minutes. Swiftly setting his arrow, he raised his bow and pulled back.

_Zoey, _Stark thought contentedly, _This is for you._

And he released the arrow, his head filled with thoughts of his Priestess.

* * *

**Zoey**

I was laying on my side in a small meadow of soft, lush grass, ringed by towering trees. I didn't remember waking up, or how I got here, but I wasn't going to complain. _Anything _was better than that cold, dark, cellar I'd been in before.

_How _did _I get here? _I asked myself curiously as I rolled onto my back to look into the fluffy white clouds floating aimlessly in the clear blue sky. I sat up with a jerk, suddenly realizing where I was. I was back in Heath's Otherworld.

"But—how?" I choked out, my heart nearly skipping a beat. I would get to see Heath again!

"It's 'cause you're awesome, Zo," a deep voice said from beside me, shining a familiarly beautiful, metallic green.

"_Heath_!" I squealed like a little girl, throwing myself at him. I gave him a huge hug, and he awkwardly patted my back from under me.

"Ow."

"Oh, sorry," I muttered as I removed myself graciously, saving what little dignity I had left.

"It's alright," he replied cheerfully. "It's just nice to have you back, even if it's not for long."

"What do you mean?" I asked, suddenly very serious.

"Well, any minute now you're gonna wake up, and then you'll be gone. From here," he added quickly. "D**n, I was hoping you'd be here longer."

"But…how do you know? And how am I _here_? And—"

_Move. _The low voice startled me. I looked at Heath, and he smiled sadly at me.

"And you're going to wake up in five…"

"But Heath, can I come back again?" I cried, ignoring the voice that I knew both of us could hear.

"Sure. Four…"

_Move, _the voice called more fervently. _Get out of the way._

"How? When? Do I have to be asleep? And who is that? Is—"

"However, whenever, no. Three…"

"You didn't tell me who it was! Is it someone bad? Is it Neferet? She did this, didn't sh—"

"It's Stark. He's gonna come and rescue you soon, if everything goes as planned. Yes, Neferet Zoey-napped you. Two…"

"You've changed Heath," I said quietly as I began to glow. "What happened?"

"I'm sort of like your Otherworldly helper, I guess. I don't know how I know all this crap, though. I guess it's your pal, Nyx. One…"

He leaned closer to me, and our faces nearly touched. I became lightheaded, and it wasn't only because of my approaching journey.

"This time it's going to be different," Heath whispered, his cool, metallicky voice coiling around my face and hair. "Harder. Just keep your thoughts straight, 'kay?"

"Okay," I replied softly, not quite knowing what or how he meant.

"Zero…" he whispered as he leaned forward and our lips met for a thousandth of a second, before I exploded once again.

This time was _totally_ different than any time before. I actually saw my 'body' explode into millions of tiny, shimmery pieces around my little ball of spirit, or whatever you want to call it, and it felt as if my free-floating consciousness was being sucked and pulled and stretched into a ridiculously small, pin-sized hole. I saw Heath look up at me and wave, and suddenly I was pulled all the way through, the Otherworld disappeared, and I was floating along on my merry way.

This journey, too, was different than any other. Where as before, I had just been floating aimlessly, this time there were many differing paths I could take. I yearned to stray to the left, or up, or some different way than the path I was on, because each and every path looked so amazingly appealing. But a part of me _knew _that I should stay on this one, and it was strong enough to lead me the right way.

And then I was being stretched, pulled, sucked, shoved, twisted, formed, jerked, shaped, arranged, forced, urged, ripped, grated, and heaved through another itty-bitty pinhole. This time it was much more painful—it was _excruciating_—but almost as soon as it had begun, the pain ended.

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking the sleep from them. I tried to look around, but it was absolutely dark, and it hurt my wrists and ankles to shift positions.

_Move._

That familiar voice compelled me to do what it said. I used all the strength I could, and used it to roll over. What must have been less than a second later, two consecutive _thuds_ followed by a _whoosh_ and the sound of dirt hitting concrete filled the empty room.

My curiosity fueled my next roll, but I was stopped short by a sort of stick thing. It fell over easily, and I scooted away to see what it was. Somehow there was suddenly light in the room, and I saw a long, black stick with three brightly-colored plastic wings sticking out of one end, and a mass of dirty fabric at the other. It looked almost like one of Stark's arrows, minus the ball of fabric…

"Zoey?" came a whisper from above me, and the light was suddenly gone.

I looked up towards the sound of the voice to see Stark's face peering down at me through a tiny hole in the ceiling.

* * *

**Yay! And hopefully something interesting will happen soon...**

**'Kay, so I'm gonna start writing the next chapter as soon as I can. When I get ten reviews for **_**this**_** chapter, I'll update with whatever I have written of the **_**next**_** one. So it will be up to YOU guys to decide when I update! This way, if it's a long wait, you'll most likely have a long chapter. But if I get ten reviews quick, you'll get to read real quick!!! I think this way will be efficient. But remember, this is not my only FanFic, so it may sometimes be a little longer.**

**Review, guys!!!**

**Your Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**


	14. ANGER! aka, Chapter 14

**Okay, I am seriosly POd at Fanfiction!!! They wouldn't let me update on Friday, (I couldn't on Saturday, cuz I was busy) and now I was going through and doing the last bit of editing to make sure it was especially awesome when it totally closed out on me!!! It has happened before, (with a diff story) and I totally gave up that time. So, sorry if anything sounds stupid or if there are any mistakes, just know that I tried, but they all got undone, which is IRRITATING because it took me _FOREVER_!!!**

**I DID list out all the reviewers who were totally awesome and reviewed, but as you all know, it did not get saved because FanFiction sucks. So thank you all, you are _AMAZING_!!!  
You (reviewers) are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, on sucky days (like today). You never know, peeps, how much I miss sleep. So here's a chapter, I hope it pays (for your wait and my ANGER!!!) **

**Enjoy!!! (And you'd better, cuz I'm super POd...)**

* * *

**Zoey**

"_Stark!" _I cried in surprise. I squinted my eyes as a late shower of earth fell through the hole directly above me and covered my face in grit. I blinked rapidly and shook my head a few times to get the dirt off, and looked at the strange arrow beside me, then back up at my warrior.

"Zoey! A-are you okay?" Stark's question sounded pained.

"Yeah, just a little sore," I croaked, not realizing how sore my throat was. How long _had_ I been down here?

"I'm g-going to c-come and get you," Stark stammered, his teeth suddenly chattering. He grimaced in pain as he attempted to smile at me.

"What's wrong, Stark?" I asked fearfully, knowing how tough he usually was.

"I'm-m f-fine," he gasped. I scrambled to sit up to see what was wrong with him; from down here, all I could see was anything that was above the one-inch circle that I assumed had been made by Stark's arrow.

"No, you're not!" I concluded after he let out a cry of pain. He finally shook his head in agreement.

"N-n-not fi-ine. Sun-n…c-coming…"

"Crap, crap, _crap!_" I breathed. How could I help him from down where I was?

"Y-yeah."

Whoops. I didn't think he could hear me…

"Well, go back inside!" I demanded, trying to use my powerful High Priestess voice, and failing epically **(A/N: ha**_**HA!!!**_** No red line! It's a **_**real**_** word!!!)**. Stark gave me a hard look that I somehow saw through the tiny hole about nine feet above me.

"N-no. I wo-on't l-leave you ag-gain," he said stubbornly, his voice betraying the pain and helplessness he was in. He let out another yell of pain and rolled out of sight. A dim sunbeam shone through the hole he'd left vacant.

"Stark! Stark?" I called anxiously, suddenly understanding where his pain was coming from. He would _die _if he stayed outside much longer!

I heard him yell again, and my defensive reflexes kicked in. I called Earth to me, and used it to find exactly where above me Stark was laying. I took a deep breath and used all the power I had in me to pull that chunk of earth underground, to where I was. There was a loud groaning, followed by a rough scraping noise as I struggled to get Stark to safety.

A crack formed in the ceiling with a snap, and lowly got bigger as I strained to save my warrior. Ah, the irony. There was a dull _thud _as the network of cracks in the ceiling created a complete oval-like shape, and it sank about an inch with a grating sound. My body shook with effort as I fought to pull the chunk of concrete and earth down to me. Inch by tiny inch, I managed to slowly slide the large mass lower into the…cellar, thing I was in.

At any point while I was pulling it out, I could have completely stopped using my abilities and it would have stayed where it was because of the tightly packed walls of dirt, clay and cement around it. But at a certain point, I had to quickly switch gears as it popped out from it's stabilizing track. I heard myself yell out in effort of keeping it aloft with only my own strength.

I was drenched in sweat, my whole body ached, my irregular breathing came in heavy gasps, and I was so far past the point of exhaustion that I was no longer trembling. The lump of rock landed with an echoing _thud_, with Stark's limp body lying gracelessly on top of it.

I squirmed my way over to his still form, the light coming from the large gap in the ceiling making me close my sensitive eyes. I sat anxiously by him, frustrated that my hands were tied and I couldn't check his pulse or anything. The glow from the dim rays showed Stark's burned skin, making my heart clench. His skin was red, and I could tell it was slowly but steadily getting worse by the minute, even though the light down here was diluted since it was not shining straight at him.

With a deep breath, I tried to tip the earth to get Stark off it so I could replace it into the ceiling. It shuddered for a moment, before one side slowly rose and Stark's motionless body slid off the grass-covered top. I winced as he hit the ground, hoping he wasn't hurt. It was harder to put the chunk of rock and concrete back where it belonged, but for some reason it felt less draining. I wondered if it was because I was already past the point of exhaustion, and there wasn't much further for me to fall. I used the last of my strength to scrambled over to Stark's unmoving body.

"Goddess, _please _let him be okay," I begged, my voice gravelly, before quickly adding, "Thank you, Earth, for your service."

A strange sensation ran through my body as it left. I gently laid my head on his chest to see if Stark was still breathing, or if his heart was still beating. A sigh of relief escaped my throat when my head was moved up and down the tiniest bit, and the faint _ba-dump, ba-dump _of his heart reached my ears. He was wounded badly, and I knew I needed to help him. My mind whirled, trying to think of anything I could do to help him.

_Well, first I need to get out of these restraints, _I thought determinedly. My eyes wandered to the pack of arrows still attached to Stark's back. I pulled one out with my hands and grabbed it with my teeth, praying that this would work. I started awkwardly stabbing at the fabric binding my hands together, eventually creating several holes.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed hoarsely as I struck too close to my wrist and started bleeding lightly. I continued my task, being more aware of where I was stabbing, and after about five minutes, I was finally free. Well, my feet were still bound, but I quickly untied the fabric around them. I scooted over to Stark, sitting close to him and bringing his body up to lean on me. The cut on my wrist was still stinging, and I swiped my tongue across it to stop the bleeding. It tasted disgustingly good—because I felt like I was eating myself—and I scowled.

Stark suddenly hissed in pain, and I brought his face closer to mine. He didn't seem fully conscious, and his ragged breaths were becoming weaker.

"Spirit," I began, "Help Stark heal from his wounds."

I felt Spirit arrive, and I felt a wave of spiritual fullness and optimism stronger than anything I'd ever felt before wash over me. A flicker of purple light caught my eye, and I gasped aloud as I looked down to see that my body had become a swirling purple mass of light. It still had the general shape of a person, but it was constantly moving in elegant, fluid movements. I held what I supposed was my hand up to my face, examining the tendrils of whirling light that were my fingers in amazement.

"This is impossible," I whispered in awe, gazing at my body that I knew was somehow _made_ of Spirit.

Suddenly knowing what to do, I slowly lowered my trembling hand to Stark's face, willing him to heal as I did so. The moment I touched him, the swirling light that I was made of all changed direction and flowed directly into Stark. I somehow knew—no, _heard_ his heart beating louder, felt his breaths becoming even and strong, and sensed his burns healing. As Spirit entered Stark's body, my own body slowly became dark with flesh and bone once again, starting with my feet, then my legs, then up and out through my hand and into Stark, as if he was sucking Spirit from me like a drain sucked water from a pool.

As the last drops of light from the tips of my fingers were absorbed into Stark, a wave of fatigue overcame me, and I practically collapsed on top of him. I lay down beside him, beginning to shudder once again with tiredness and cold. I gazed at his more alive body beside me, faintly glowing with the Spirit I had just transferred to him. As the radiance dimmed and disappeared altogether, I thanked Spirit and it left me in the darkness with an unconscious Stark.

I absentmindedly scratched my wrist as I stared in wonder at Stark, taking in what had just happened. I started when I felt a warm, thick substance dripping down my had, and the alluring tang of blood reached my nose. I felt the open wound on my wrist, and realized I had reopened it when I'd scratched myself. I brought it to my mouth to reseal it, when I suddenly realized that _Stark _needed this more than _I_ did.

I felt around in the darkness for Stark's face, then mouth, and pressed my wrist against it. I heard a soft complaint from Stark, even though he was still out cold, then felt his hands come up and weakly press my arm to his mouth harder. He reflexively stroked the cut with his tongue, causing it to bleed more heavily. I began to feel lightheaded after about three minutes of him drinking, and slowly lay back down again. Hopefully I could fall asleep…

* * *

**Stevie Rae**

"Something's wrong," Neferet said calmly, closing her eyes.

"What?" Stevie Rae asked dubiously, not understanding what she was talking about.

"_Shut up,_" Neferet growled as she brought her fingers to her temples, "and let me find out…"

Stevie Rae crossed her arms stubbornly, but obeyed. She stalked over to the door separating her and Neferet from the sleeping Kalona, listening to see if he was awake. When she heard only steady breathing, she pulled away, scowling. All Kalona ever seemed to do anymore was sleep—or at least, he _had_, until the day before, when Zoey 'returned'. Neferet had tried to wake him from his slumber so they could attend the hearing, but couldn't, so she'd gone without him. He had just woken up when Neferet returned to get into position to ambush Zoey, a plan they hadn't informed him of. She was hoping that if Zoey became weak enough, they could tap into her powers through Kalona's imprint.

However, Neferet and Stevie Rae were both worried that Kalona was becoming far too attached to Zoey, and that his feelings for her might ruin Neferet's plan—not to mention Neferet's deteriorating relationship with Kalona. Stevie Rae thought that they should break the imprint, because it was making Kalona weak, but Neferet said otherwise. She was sure that she could use Zoey—or, more accurately, her abilities—to help her take over, but only if Kalona was bonded to her in a way unlike any other.

Neferet had told Stevie Rae that Kalona and Zoey's imprint is stronger than any other before. Stevie Rae thought that Neferet was jealous that _she _hadn't come up with the idea of imprinting them.

"It's more than _just _an imprint," Neferet had explained almost joyfully, "because it took place in the Otherworld."

"So?" Stevie Rae had replied indifferently, not knowing what she was getting at.

"_So,_ it's more powerful than anything anyone's ever seen before!" Neferet exclaimed. "It's a _spiritual _imprint. They are bonded together, not just by blood, as with a normal imprint, but by their _souls. _As if that _alone_ wouldn't have made it strong enough, their souls were connected before the imprint ever happened, making it _far_ more powerful."

"So basically, no one could break it, right?" Stevie Rae answered.

"Yes—well, _most likely—_but that's not the _point," _Neferet sighed impatiently. "It means that we can practically make Zoey do anything we want."

"Well, _Kalona _could."

"Yes," Neferet gritted her teeth. "But _through _Kalona _I _could!"

"Or, if she was weak enough, you could tap directly into her powers through their imprint," Stevie Rae suggested.

"The chamber!" Neferet cried, bringing Stevie Rae back to te present.

"What?"

"Something's wrong...but she couldn't have escaped, or even have sent for help—I made _sure_ of that."

"Yeah, those spells took _hours _to perform," Stevie Rae pointed out. "There's no way she's getting out of there."

"But I didn't cast any to prevent others from getting _in,"_ Neferet explained. "And I think someone's with her."

"Then let's go," Stevie Rae said darkly.

And the two marched off to check on their prisoner.

* * *

**Dun, dun, DUN!!!**

**So I hope this clears up why Kalona and Zoey's imprint is so strong and overpowering—because their _souls_ are imprinted, and the bond they had before that makes it even more binding/strong. If anyone has any questions about this (or aything else), please; don't be afraid to ask, cuz chances are that someone else has the same question as you.**

**Please review!!!! **/○**It makes my daaaaay/niiiight... **/○

**Your Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**


	15. There's Nothing Obscene in Chapter 15

**Okay, so I know you all must hate me for taking so long, but I have many valid excuses. As much as I'm sure you'd **_**love **_**to hear them all, let's just summarize it and say I was super busy for a while, then I got into a writing funk, then I was super busy again, and I'm still pretty busy, but I was suddenly struck with inspiration so I wrote. It's kinda short, sorry :(**

**Burned is out! Yaaaay! I haven't read it yet, though. :'(**

**And once again, FanFiction has screwed me over and not saved some of my changes. Grr. So if anything sounds off, their bad.**

**And without further ado... Enjoy!**

* * *

**Stevie Rae**

_"No!" _Neferet shrieked for what must have been the thousandth time. Stevie Rae rolled her eyes as the dark-haired woman destroyed yet another piece of furniture—an end table, maybe. Her fury had already shattered any glass that had the misfortune to be placed in that room, and caused any wooden furnishings to distort into indescribable shapes. Now she was smashing anything she could get her hands on while a dark wind with fingers of a black, smoke-like haze woven in it swirled around her; combing through her wild hair and tossing shards of light bulbs, mirrors, chairs, tables, and other debris through the room.

Stevie Rae had taken refuge in the bathroom when Neferet's outburst had began, and now watched her through the doorway that had once had a nice, thick door to block any flying fragments of _stuff_from hitting her. Neferet herself was safe—since it was her magic causing all of it, the wind was conveniently avoiding it's creator.

_"That abhorrent concubine_ _screwed up _every_thing—_again_!" _she screamed with malice as she knocked over what might have been half of the bureau that had formerly added an air of mysterious antiquity to the once rather elegant room. Her voice shook with power, and Stevie Rae briefly wondered if the whole hotel would be ripped apart—or if they could even feel it at all—before ducking behind the doorframe to avoid an unidentified flying object.

Waiting for the storm to pass, Stevie Rae sat down on the rim of the bathtub and leaned against the wall closest to her, longing for some blood. The thirst, the wanting…it was too much sometimes. She occasionally wondered what had happened to make her crave it so much again, but then the darkness overwhelmed her to the point that she couldn't think straight. She thought about the bags of it in the fridge just out of her reach and glowered. Then she shrugged it off; _fresh _blood would be so much more…satisfying. Her mouth watered at the thought.

A few minutes later, Stevie Rae suddenly noticed the eerie calm that had come over the room. She crept from the bathroom, carefully avoiding pieces of the room, and froze when she saw a motionless form in front of the window. It was Neferet, still surrounded in the cloud of black that she hid so easily from others, but she was so still it was creepy. Stevie Rae listened for the sound of her breathing, but heard nothing, and shivered.

"Get her."

It was barely a whisper, but Stevie Rae heard it easily. Shifting her stance, Stevie Rae flipped her hair behind her as she asked, "Who?"

Neferet whipped around, and with a catlike grace, was suddenly barely inches from Stevie Rae's face. Red eyes met earthy green ones, and Stevie Rae shivered again when she saw the pure malice and evil in her green depths. Neferet sneered when she saw her reaction, and grabbed one of her hands in her steely grip. She squeezed until it hurt, and then squeezed more. Stevie Rae snarled and yanked her hand away, but couldn't free herself. The black coils of smoke wound their way from Neferet's arm to Stevie Rae's, and Neferet released her.

Red flooded Stevie Rae's vision as her thirst intensified, and Neferet's meaning cascaded into her head. It had actually sort of been Stevie Rae's idea, in a way, but Neferet had altered the persons involved.

"Feed first," Neferet added before Stevie Rae exited through the window and pounced gracefully to the ground.

"With pleasure," Stevie Rae growled as she spotted a young couple sneaking into the garden. She smiled, and crouched behind a bush, waiting.

* * *

**Zoey**

"Hey, I think she's waking up!" _I would have to agree._

"Zoey? Can you hear me?" _Yeah..._

"She's going to be fine, don't worry." _Is that Darius?_

I felt somebody lift my arm and then a really weird pressure against my wrist, and I yanked it back weakly.

"Leggo me," I demanded drowsily when it had no effect, and tried again. My arm was gently placed back down, and I brought it closer to me defensively. No one could poke at it _now_.

"Zoey?" I think it was Stark. I was about to answer, and then remembered that the _last _time I'd thought it was Stark and hadn't checked, things had gotten _really_ awkward. So I cracked open my eyes suspiciously, and let them adjust to the light for a few moments. Everything was a little blurry, and all I could see was what I think was a wall and a pair of pants with a shirt on top. Well, a person, but that's all I could see of them.

"Are you Stark?" I asked suddenly. I heard a couple chuckles, and then a beautiful, "Yeah, I'm Stark."

"Good," I said, and left it at that.

"Zoey?"

"What?" I answered irritably. I was tired and wanted to sleep!

"Are you okay?" he pressed.

"I'm tired, so shut up and let me sleep."

"Yeah, she's okay," he laughed, and I sank back into a fitful sleep.

It seemed like only a few minutes later when I woke up again, this time no longer tired. I opened my eyes, and welcomed the darkness of the room I was in. My wrist was sore, and when I went to rub it gently, I felt the unnecessarily large IV that had been stuck in it. I shuddered when my hand bumped the cylinder and a very awkward feeling shot through my wrist. IVs are nasty.

A light snore brought my attention to the three sleeping forms in several cots around me. The dim light coming from behind closed curtains let me see just enough to know that they were occupied by Shaunee, Erin, and Jack. I sat up in my bed, crying out softly as the IV tugged unpleasantly against my skin. Shaunee stirred briefly, and I froze to keep from making further noise.

When she'd settled down again, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and hopped lightly to the floor. I immediately got a head rush, and grabbed the rail of the bed for a crutch. When the nausea passed, I carefully started rolling the stand holding my IV liquids into the bathroom. I closed the door before fumbling around for the lights, blinking at the sudden brightness.

I hadn't really noticed it before, but I felt like crap. My mouth was dry, and had that gross coating of gunk that comes from not being conscious to brush your teeth. When I looked in the mirror, my skin was unusually pale, and my hair looked like it'd been on twelve too many rides at Cedar Point. I turned the water on and looked around for any sort of cup. I found a nice little Dixie dispenser, and filled one with water and swished it around in my mouth. It helped a little, but I really wished I had a toothbrush.

After I was a little more hydrated and cleanish-looking, I turned off the light and left the bathroom, suddenly tired again. After the brightness in the bathroom, I was almost completely blind in the dim room, and had almost no idea where I was headed.

I felt around aimlessly, cursing under my breath whenever I bumped into something. I heard shifting from one of the cots, and stopped moving. This time, however, the inhabitant of the cot didn't drift back into dreamland, as I'd hoped. I heard more movement, then the soft thumping of bare feet against the tile floor.

"Zoey?" Shaunee whispered, and I felt her hand on my arm.

"Yeah."

"Nice to see you awake again," she continued softly as she helped me back towards my bed.

"Sorry I woke you," I apologized while clambering back into my bed, "I was _trying _to be quiet."

"It's the thought that counts," she joked with a yawn.

My eyes had finally adjusted to the dark, and I was just about to say goodnight, but then what she said moments before suddenly registered.

"What do you mean, 'again'?" I asked.

"Hmm?" she murmured sleepily.

"You said 'Nice to see you awake _again_'. I don't remember waking up before. Except for once, but it was only for a few seconds, and nothing..._drastic_ happened."

"Y-you don't?" Shaunee's voice shot up an octave. I shook my head, and her eyes went wide.

"So…what happened?" I asked urgently, somehow knowing I wasn't going to like what had transpired as I slept. Erin let out a little moan in her sleep, and I motioned for Shaunee to be quieter.

"Well," Shaunee began softly with a deep breath, "After Stark brought you back—"

"But how'd we get out?" I interrupted, the memories of being in the room and saving Stark flooding back. How had I forgotten _that? _But still I didn't remember being awake before.

"Stark said that he made a little opening above you, and you used your affinities to make it bigger and save him from the sun." I nodded—that much I remembered. "Then _apparently_ you let him drink from you, which was really stupid and—"

"Yeah, save it. I know," I stopped her crossly. If I'd wanted to be reprimanded, I would have stayed back in Oklahoma at the step-loser's house.

"But seriously, Zoey. You were so weak already and—don't you roll your eyes at me, girl—anyway, then apparently Stark used his super running powers to get you back here. You were unconscious, of course, but—"

"But how did he get us out?" I asked again.

"He won't talk about it," she said simply. "We've asked, but he said he's only gonna tell you about it. Anyway, when you woke up, Damien and all the nurses were totally flipping out. You were in bad shape, Zo. You shouldn't have let Stark—anyway, then…well," her voice got quiet, "you woke up."

"And…?" I pressed.

"Well, like I said, you were in bad shape. So when you woke up, everyone was all excited and hugged you and stuff, but you were _not _doing well." She hesitated, and I raised my eyebrows.

"Zoey?" Stark's voice wandered into the room, followed by the warrior himself.

Shaunee looked relieved by his entrance, only making my more questioning as to what had gone down while I…well, I guess I'd been awake. Stark rushed over to me as if to make sure I was still amongst the living, and wrapped me in a bear hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay," he whispered into my ear, squeezing gently. He suddenly stiffened, and added hastily, "You _are_ okay, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He seemed to relax again at that. Then when he pulled away, he was suddenly very grim.

"Zoey, I have to tell you something…" he started slowly, as if he wasn't sure how to put it lightly. Great. Just what I needed—_two _horrible pieces of information after just waking up after being out for who knows how long, _and_ in the span of two minutes.

"Okay, okay," I breathed in a rush, "Shaunee finish, then Stark tell me what the problem is."

I turned to Shaunee, and I could almost hear her cursing mentally. She shifted uncomfortably, and looked like she was about to argue her case, then clearly thought better of it. She took a big breath of air.

"You were doing so bad Zoey—we didn't know what else to do!" she cried. "We…we had Kalona come so you could drink from him."

_Well, damn,_ I thought. Because what could I say?

"You weren't' happy about it, but once he's cut himself…"

I nodded quickly-she did _not _need to finish that sentence. And I wasn't sure if I even wanted to _know_ how I'd acted... That complicated things. Even more than things currently were.

"And now he won't leave us alone," Stark added unnecessarily. I glowered at him. I didn't need his negative feedback.

"Just tell me what you were going to say before," I demanded. I would deal with Kalona and his yummy blood later. _Dangit, _I was obsessed.

"Stevie Rae is back with Neferet. She was the one who led you right into Neferet's trap, and I had to...confront her to get us out," he said straightforwardly.

I emotionlessly remembered what she'd said to me that had made me run in the first place. But they didn't _seem _so mad at me.

"She told me everything while we were…escaping." I somehow knew he'd avoided words like 'battling'. Upon closer inspection, I could see the barely healed scars and bruises littering his exposed arms and face. "And we're _not _mad at you, Zoey."

"I know that _now_," I said defeatedly, although I noticed how he didn't mention not being disappointed, or something else.

Sheesh. What a load to take on… after just waking up after being out for who knows how long, and in the span of two minutes.

* * *

**Should I have made Stevie Rae's POV second? I liked it first, but then again, I knew how things were going to happen...**

**Sorry for the lameness of the last couple chapters. I don't feel like I wrote them in the same style that the rest of this fic is written in, and I didn't really like the situation, and I should have changed it but I didn't, and...just sorry for the lameness :'(**

**As always, review please!**

**Your Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**

**PS, I just attended an Adam Lambert concert! It was sweet. They have such cool special effects... XD**


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